A well-researched, artfully written book. I read this book years ago and overlooked sending a review--it has stayed with me, however. The authors capture the heart of these friendships very well, and communicate them to the reader in such an engaging way. I'm looking forward to reading more by Emily Midorikawa-- I believe she released a new book.

Yes, there are literary #squadgoals. The literary elite were not the spinsters and recluses as they told us. A biographical look at the friendships that gave Jane, Virginia and Charlotte sounding boards for their genius. Definitely a #mustread for the #Janeites, Woolf and Eliot superfans as well as those with #Brontemania. Long live the sisterhood!

The authors' premise is an interesting one; exploring the friendships of female authors and the influence of these relationships on some of the most significant writers of the Western world. Midorikawa and Sweeney tackle four sets of women; Jane Austen and Anne Sharp, Charlotte Brontë and Mary Taylor, George Eliot and Harriet Beecher Stowe and Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield but while they produce engaging biographies the analysis is too often brief and superficial. This is particularly evident in the section on Jane Austen where, despite a description of the discovery of a previously overlooked document the evidence of an important friendship between the author and her niece's governed and unpublished playwright is largely conjectural.

The lack of decent referencing is a major weakness in a work which claims to be a corrective to the neglect of female friendship by other scholars and the dearth of primary sources is disappointing. The latest sections fare better but other than recounting the overlapping lives of very interesting women, the authors reach few significant conclusions.

The strongest section by far is the final one which tackles Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield. Ironically, this is one relationship that had frequently been considered and the two women are famous rivals. With a sensitivity that is far more effective than elsewhere in the book Midorikawa and Sweeney argue that the two women, while wary and often envious of eachother's talent, had a deep if inconsistent friendship that deeply affected the work they produced.

The authors struggle to add depth to their hypothesis in the conclusion, which rather lamely lists other pairs of literary women and irritatingly refers to their own friendship in the third person. A scholarly article, properly referenced, focusing on their nuanced analysis of Woolf and Mansfield would have been far stronger than than this work as a whole.

There can be no doubt that friendships between women writers we're as significant as famous examples amongst their make counterparts. It is almost inevitable that these have been neglected by scholars just as Midorikawa and Sweeney suggest, however their contribution would have been better served by choosing stronger examples that relied less on conjecture and providing a much deeper analysis

Quite simply...one of the best books I have read about women in literature in a while. I loved how the authors uncovered friendships I never knew about. The fact that some of my favorite authors had a link to each other was fascinating. This is such a well-written book. I loved it!

I was unaware at the time of requesting this book that it would not be available to read on my kindle. I only read on my kindle. I love the authors who's kinships are featured in this book and hope I can get a library edition to read in the future. I must say that many of my book friends have read and reviewed A Secret Sisterhood and have enjoyed it.

Though frequently covered in biographies due to the widespread appeal of their works, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf, often suffer from being type cast as variations of female author stereotypes of the time: the spinster, the parson’s daughters, the loner, and the complicated artist struggling with bouts of depression. Often overlooked given that it shatters such illusions is the fact that all of these women had close friendships with other literary females that inspired and influenced their writing. Sometimes they were authors as famous as them, as Harriet Beecher Stowe was to George Eliot, or Katherine Mansfield to Virginia Woolf, and sometimes they were unpublished and from a different social rank as the governess Anne Sharp was to Jane Austen and sometimes, like Charlotte Bronte’s friend, Mary Taylor, they were more radical for their time.

Authors Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney delved into often overlooked diaries of those on the periphery of Austen, Bronte, Eliot and Woolf as well as the diaries and letters of the women themselves. In doing so, they discovered strong bonds these literary women shared with other female writers often ignored or hidden by their contemporary biographers and family. Richly detailed in a highly readable way with biographical background about the authors, Midorikawa and Sweeney provide a more rounded and defined portrait of each of these female authors. Removing them from their stereotyped molds, they showcase flesh and blood women, who struggled, fought, possessed biting wits, and were fiercely passionate about their writing. This passion for writing in all four women by necessity required the support of other female writers who understood such struggles and exhibited a strong intellect. A Secret Sisterhood is a treat for admirers of these four literary women as well as those who enjoy history and biography. Hopefully Midorikawa and Sweeney will collaborate on more such works in the future!

Thank you to the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I am a fan of all these ladies so reading this title was really enticing! Several of our teachers use titles by these women so this title definitely has potential as a extension resource for students to draw connections.

That said, it was hard to get into in parts. Maybe I was reading too much fiction around the same time though and that effected my reading.

A great look at the literary friendships of some of the most classic women writers.

Found that this book was really hard to get into - I never did get all the way through it; which was disappointing because I really wanted to like it.

It’s always great to read about female friendships in books but this book was very fascinating because it talks about the friendships of famous female authors. Though I am only familiar with the works of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, it was still wonderful to know how all these authors were influenced by the women in their lives. I think I would love to read more such accounts about the lives and friendships of famous authors.

As an indie author, I've often wished to have friendships with other authors. Every author could use mentorship, support, even friendly competition. This well-researched book gives us insight into the connections between these classic female authors during a time where they were striving to be heard among all the strong male voices.

https://www.bustle.com/p/11-fascinating-nonfiction-books-to-give-the-reader-who-already-has-basically-everything-on-their-shelves-5661298

I enjoyed this, but I wasn't thrilled by it. It was drier than I wanted it to be.

This book delivered exactly what it promised and I couldn't have been happier with it! I'm somewhat shocked and saddened that it took so long for this idea to not only occur to someone, but to also be written about and shared with the world at large.

No, this isn't going to bring about World Peace, but it is one step closer to bringing women on par in society's eyes, with men. Not to knock men, they are great and all, but they always seem to get top billing and most of the attention, whatever the subject being discussed.

I don't want to re-hash the synopsis or give away any of the interesting details that haven't been brought to light until now. I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

I just want to say that I really appreciate the research these authors put into this book. They read letters and diaries archived and never published for the general public. They really dug deep to bring this book to the world. I appreciate that. It's not easy to do research on people who had their correspondence and journals burned after they died. Or to find out about people who were non-entities, so not much is known or maintained about them. My favorite author, Jane Austen, was the first entry in this book and I was happy with all that they found, but I still wanted more because #iwantitall.

But about 40 pages in my eARC seemed to be notes and bibliography, so five stars, just for the amount of research they did. The fact that they were able to craft that all into a readable, entertaining book that also is incredibly pertinent to what is going on in the world today re: yes, women ARE people too, is nothing short of astounding to me.

5 stars, all the way. Highly recommended!

My thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Midorikawa, Emma Claire Sweeney, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of A Secret Sisterhood. I found this book very interesting, well researched, and worth a read. I'd recommend it to loyal readers of all of the fabulous women mentioned.

I enjoyed A Secret Sisterhood. Often, literary history only focuses on the relationships/friendships between famous male authors or male authors and female in the form of encouragement, critique, or connection, this book turns all of that and focuses on the relationships on several female authors and the encouragement and support they received from each other. I enjoyed the in-depth research and documentation that supported the majority of the authors' writing. Every now and then, they did slip into the "what if" and "can you imagine" world, but for the most part it was not too distracting. I would recommend this to others who find any of the discussed authors work interesting, and for those wanting to know more about female friendships during the time periods examined in the work.

Thank you, NetGalley and the Publisher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely lovely. I've read multiple biographies on Jane Austen in particular and I was surprised by how much new information I learned about her. I think what helped the most was the way they wrote this book as though it were fiction and that helped me to just fly through it, feeling like I was there with these women. This book made these authors feel real, which had to be extremely hard to do considering the lack of information available on some of them. The Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte sections were my favorite, but I enjoyed learning a lot about George Eliot and I think I should look into a biography about her soon. Overall, this book was so inspiring for me as a female writer. There's room for all of us at the top. This book was a joy for a female author nerd like me.

We hear a lot about men, and abut their friendships, but are allowed to think of famous women as islands into themselves.

I loved this book and will be giving it to my nerdy lady friends this holiday season

A Secret Sisterhood

The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf



by Emily Midorikawa, Emma Claire Sweeney

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Biographies & Memoirs

Pub Date 17 Oct 2017

I am reviewing a copy of A Secret Sisterhood Through Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt and Netgalley:

Male literary friendships often become stuff of legends, whereas female authors are often perceived as solitary people, but this book sets out to prove that wrong.

Jane Austen had a close friendship between playwright and female servant Anne Sharp. Mary Taylor’s friendship and works had a great influence over Charolette Bronte’s, shaping her into the author who even centuries after her death has books who have stood the test of time.

Despite George Eliot living in London and Harriet Beecher Stowe in the United States they built a friendship that helped to shape their careers.

Katherine Mansfield and Virgina Woolf are often considered bitter foes, both fighting to build a career for themselves, but letters and diaries offer proof that they infact had a complex friendship.

I give A Secret Sisterhood five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

My Thoughts

“... misleading myths of isolation have long attached themselves to women who write: a
cottage-dwelling spinster; an impassioned roamer of the moors; a fallen woman, shunned; a melancholic genius. Over the years, a conspiracy of silence has obscured the friendships of female authors, past and present. But now it is time to break the silence and celebrate this literary sisterhood - a glimmering web of interwoven threads that still has the power to unsettle, to challenge, to inspire.”

‘A Secret Sisterhood’ is an interesting book packed with loads of information, new insights and wonderful descriptions of friendship from times long gone. Reading more like a biography, it allows the reader to look at female literary friendships within the context of their writing.

Being a big Austen and Bronte fan, I was eager to see what new snippets would be brought to life. Thinking of these famous female authors (and understanding that writing is very much a solitary pursuit), one often sees them in isolation. This book reveals how much they were actively involved with others, sharing at times, revealing insights into their thinking. Either meeting in person or through their correspondence, one can learn a great deal more about the individual.

You do not have to be well versed on these writers, as a satisfactory amount of detail is provided by these authors. What they succeed in doing is portraying another aspect to these famous lives and how these friendships contributed to the writer’s lives. I learnt more about those I knew well eg. Jane Austen and was introduced to those I was unfamiliar with eg. George Eliot.

This is an extremely well researched book, impressively so. Dedicating three chapters to each of the writer’s, the authors shine a light on the importance of friendship to these famous women, through diaries, letters and other documents. The authors really do a fabulous job of inviting you into a ‘secret sisterhood’ and sharing details I knew little of.

If you are in any way intrigued by any of these literary heroines, or you are interested in literary history, then I highly recommend you take some time to discover this ‘Secret Sisterhood’.

“In piecing together the lost stories of these four trailblazing pairs, we have found alliances that were sometimes illicit, scandalous, and volatile; sometimes supportive, radical, or inspiring but, until now, tantalizingly consigned to the shadows.”


This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release