Just adored it. AND I DON'T LIKE NON-FICTION BOOKS.

I think that the authors that were selected were perfect and I really liked how with such little informations I saw the human part of the authors of some books I adore.

I also liked the representation, from this book I descovered new classics to read. New authors of color and LGBTQ+ authors.

It was such a good combination of real life facts about women authors and storyline that the graphic novel part seemed like a story. I, in such little time, grew attached to the characters of the stories I was reading.

A fantastic book.

Why She Wrote is not a book I would have stumbled upon without NetGalley, and I would have been missing out. This collection of graphic biographies takes 18 women who wrote and, in sets of three, seeks to illuminate their lives and motivations just the tiniest bit. I really like the way this is presented. Each author gets a page-long bio, followed by a short comic answering the titular question of why she wrote, and finished off with a list of published works and important facts. It reminded me of Rejected Princesses, though I can see where it would have even more in common with Monster, She Wrote, which I have yet to read.

By presenting each writer as part of a loosely linked trio, we see how motivations can bind together even those who never met one another. Whether the wrote to explore the human condition, provide for their families, express themselves through a persona in ways they never could in their real lives, or make their voices heard as they fought for rights and freedoms, all of these women had compelling motivations for setting pen to page that still resonate today.

I don’t believe I have ever read a graphic biography, and I very much enjoyed the ways in which the illustrations brought these women to life. The art was very well done and expressive. I found it incredibly tasteful. Also, the writing itself is lovely, without distracting from the lives and works being discussed. The information included was just enough to make me very interested in all of these women. By the time I read the final pages, I read more about all eighteen, and I wanted to read more of the things they wrote themselves.

Some of the subjects are women I had never heard of, others about whom I thought I knew a good deal. It was interesting to see new facets to the latter and to be introduced to the former. There were motivations I wouldn’t have naturally considered without having read this collection. Some of these women were protecting their sexual identities for various reasons, or fighting the system to protect their rights to their own work. Reading about the drive all of these women had to put pen to page motivated me to write more myself.

Why She Wrote is an insightful, encouraging, and empowering look into the lives of eight incredible female writers. While I truly believe this could be read and enjoyed by both sexes and almost any age bracket, I think this would make an exceptional gift for girl or woman over the age of ten or so. This would be an especially impactful gift for any young girl who dreams of becoming a writer.

Why She Wrote acquaints the readers with iconic women authors who have been read and researched extensively. The graphic novel is a good mix of text and illustrations keeping the interest of the readers alive throughout the book. Key experiences in the women's lives that had an influence over their writing have been highlighted giving us a glimpse of the strength in these women. and the struggles they had to go through before they could achieve what they set out to do. I would recommend this book to other readers and to be used in schools and colleges.

Wow! I am obsessed with this book! I was initially interested in reading this as I love the Brontes + Jane Austen and wanted to learn more about some of my other favourite female authors that paved the way for the future of literature.

I learned SO much that I didn’t already know which made me want to explore more of the works of the authors mentioned in this book.

If you’re looking for an expansive history of each of these writers, this is not what you’re going to get out of this. It’s more of a condensed biography of each writer’s background and how/ why they turned to writing. Accompanying each mini bio is a comic depicting an important aspect in that woman’s life.

My only little critique is in the production of this book. Some of the comics have cursive and the font size is so small that it’s pretty illegible, especially if you were reading this on a small screen like I was.

I ended up giving this a solid 4.5/5 stars + is perfect for any literary lover!

Why She Wrote is a graphic novel account of the lives of several influential writers such as Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Frances Burney, and Louisa May Alcott. This book was delightful as it broke away from traditional rigid academic structure with comics that enriched me with details of the authors’ lives and made for a fast paced and engaging read. I highly recommend this book to any fans of classics, and I recommend checking out the associated podcast, Bonnets at Dawn.

“Why She Wrote” by Hannah K. Chapman and Lauren Burke, Illustrated by Kaley Bales is a remarkable nonfiction graphic novel retracing the drive for writing in the classic english speaking female writers.
This is an incredible amount of work, a truly thick volume of many informative facts and little known facets of the women writers so many of us love. I have a particular fondness for Elizabeth Gaskell so I was very excited to read her section, but she is just one tiny speck in a very vast collection of names, a lot I didn’t know and that I now want to discover.
There is a short biography of every of the women featured in this volume, as well as a bibliography, which make our work as reader so easy, we just have to look for the title given on our e-reader and off we can start reading a wonderful classic.
Every writer also has a little comic illustrating one of the moments when writing was a struggle in her life, where she questioned what her motivation was and if it was worth it to publish. Some of those comics are incredibly insightful - I must admit I now understand better why I always found reading Mary Shelly viscerally disturbing. Some talked to me a lot less. But in all cases I really loved discovering about all those strong women that braved the social codes of their time and wrote wrote and wrote despite all the barriers put in their way.
The illustrations are simple and clear. The features and expressions of the people populating the pages are all well defined making every single one of them recognisable and their feelings more real. They serve the book very well.
This is a book that should be in every public library. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves books and the writers behind them.

This was a really interesting exploration of the lives of female authors in the 18th-20th centuries. I’m giving this four stars instead of five because some of the graphic stories seemed a little bit disjointed from the biographies that came alongside them. Overall, I do recommend!

I'm reviewing the ARC provided by NetGalley.

I really liked the book, it shows really well how those important women in the literary scene inspired each other. I also liked the fun facts or the additional elements of context put at the end of each part.
Sometimes though, I thought the extracts of the lives of these writers chosen by the book to be drawn in comic form was not pertinent.. With that said, the comics were brilliantly composed and their storytelling was really entertaining. Also the division of the chapters was very well done and approached very interesting themes (.The Horror of the Everyday, Finding Their Voice, Activism as Art, Private Lives, Public Identities, Protection and Profit) and the distribution of each authors between the chapters was also brilliant.
I loved learning of these women too.

Why She Wrote is a graphic collection about classical female writers including: Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Brontë, and Frances Burney. Throughout the book it explains why these eighteen writers wrote or how they wrote. Each chapter briefly summarises a certain theme along with 3 female authors. It talks about their life, their family, and most importantly their writing.

It is an interesting book to say the least. It was great to get to know these classic writers and learn more about their history and books. The illustrations were creative and bright too.

What I wasn't a big fan of was mostly the graphic parts. I found the writing for these parts to be a bit boring for my taste, apart from Beatrix Potter's. Adding to this, I had a bit of a hard time to read certain sentences because of the chosen font.

One last thing I didn't like was the transition between the written biography to the graphics.

I recommend this to anyone who likes to read classics, or is a literature geek.

This was good, well-researched and informative! The illustrations were a plus!
Would definitely recommend it to anyone who would be interested in the backgrounds of some iconic women writers. Definitely inspiring!

Why She Wrote by Hannah K Chapman and Lauren Burke with beautiful illustrations by Kaley Bates is a glimse into the motivations of some of history's most notable female novelists, poets and columnists. From Louisa May Alcott to the Bronte Sisters, Anne Lister to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and many more , the book looks at a single pivotal moment in each of the women's lives and explores its impact on their writing careers through the medium of Bales' illustrations. The authors also provide background biographical information about the authors as well as a bibliography of their publications, in an easy to access format that makes the book suitable for readers of all ages and a great stepping off point to inspire further research and reading. I appreciated the inclusion of suggested reading included at the back of the book and could certainly see myself seeking out some of the titles at a later date. While I was familiar with many of the women included in the book I was also introduced to some new writers, most notably Edith Maude Eaton who wrote about the experiences of Chinese immigrants in North America. This is an inspiring and informative book that should grace the shelves of libraries everywhere.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

What an adorable book. This book serves as an appetizer to whet your thirst for some women writers. It is more inclusive than the English lit cannon I studied at university, so there were a few names I was not familiar with like the Chinese American Sui Sin Far the pen name of Edith Maude Eaton.
There were also tidbits I didn't know about some of the more familiar authors. For example that Frances Burney has a mastectomy in 1811 and that she wrote about her operation and subsequent recovery.

The book also covers some more familiar ground, authors such as Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Louisa May Alcott, George Eliot, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Beatrix Potter. It is apparently based on a podcast which I have yet to check: Bonnets At Dawn. The authors are gathered by threes with some theme that unites them. The last chapter gathered three authors who fought for the protection of their work and their monetary rights. The is usually one or two pages of written biography followed by graphic storytelling that brings the historical setting to life. I found the format interesting but it did bother me a little that it disturbs the chronological order.

Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#WhySheWrote #NetGalley

I seen this on Netgalley and figured i would love to learn about the amazing women who wrote back in the 18, 19, & 20th centuries. Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Anne Lister, and more like who would not want to learn about how they became who they are/were!

this was soooo adorable!!! loved this and it's such a unique idea.

this part is a personal critique but netgalley made it extremely hard to read this. idk why but it was nearly impossible to scroll.

This book was a good concept but was a little disjointed. It was hard to read through the parts that weren’t graphic novel and seemed like you needed to have prior knowledge about some of the women

I found this to be a beautiful introduction to so many female authors. Many I've read from, but there were still so much I learned about them and all the others that were new to me. This book lets it be known that this is just suppose to be a jumping off point to get to know some of the most famous female authors, and I loved how after each author's segment there was a list of their publications. The art in this was also so cute, and I really enjoyed when there was cameos of the other women or side "characters" in different stories. I really want to read more from all the authors mentioned!

Why She Wrote
Author: Hannah K. Chapman and Lauren Burke
Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir, History

When NetGalley showed this ARC as a graphic complication of the lives of 18 fascinating women novelists from the past, I couldn't let the chance pass me by. As it is, I love graphic novels, I love memoirs, I love the classics, and I love Jane Austen! When a book promises me all four, what more would I want?

The above shows the expectations the ARC created in me. Are the expectations met on reading this book? Read on!

If I have to describe the book in one word: I would say that it is FASCINATING! Shucks, I want one more word. It is INSPIRING as well.

So this is how the novel is structured: The 18 novelists are divided into six groups of three each, based on some common parameters. So we have the group information about what is common to the upcoming trio, then an introductory page featuring the author/poet in that section with one of her thought-provoking quotes, then a little writeup revealing the background and fascinating insights about her, then a graphic presentation of a key event in her life, and finally a couple of trivia to round up the section before moving on to the next author/poet. Every graphic presentation has been
researched and recreated using memoirs and/or letters written by the authors. Can you see the hard work that has gone into the making of this book? Unbelievable!

More than the graphic panels, I enjoyed the little snippets of information about each of the authors. There are such a lot of facts that I wasn't even aware of, not even for my favourite Jane Austen. The lineup of esteemed ladies covered in the book is equally astounding; it reads like a veritable who's who of the literary world of the 18th-19th centuries. And should I even write about the gorgeous cover? Oh my! It's been so long since I've gushed this much about a book!

I am so excited after reading this beautiful little gem, I feel like hugging it to my chest like Gollum, growling "My Precious!" Too bad I only have the digital copy for now!

I had the opportunity to read the advanced ‘uncorrected’ readers copy thanks to NetGalley, Chronically Books, the authors, Hannah K. Chapman and Lauren Burke, and the illustrator, Kathy Bales.

Why she Wore is lovely reminder that women’s literacy is where it is today because of the writers presented in this graphic history novel. This graphic novel depicts the history of the lives, inspiration, and influences behind the pens or classic women writers. Some of the writers featured include the Brontë Sisters, Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, Mary Anne Evans, and many more.

The graphics are beautifully designed, but also captures the darkness and rawness of some of these woman’s lives to remain true to their story. The content seems very factual and Well read. In a graphic format, I believe that the content is easy to digest for people who struggle with non-fiction, but also for younger audiences.

I did enjoy this, and there wasn’t anything inherently wrong with the novels itself, but it wasn’t my favourite read. I think this would be an invaluable gift for someone who celebrates women rights, women’s art, women’s classical writing and authors,

This book at it's core is "Empowered Women, Empower Women*.

This book takes an interesting look at what inspired different women to take up their own mantle and put their own thoughts and ideas out there.

And through the course of this book we see often it's the women who came before them, inspiring them to follow in their footsteps.

It's a poignant reminder that we to may someday be the person someone looks up too.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to lie. At first, I judged Why She Wrote by its cover. I'm intrigued by the catchy title, the color scheme, and the cover illustration. I knew I had to get my hands on this book as soon as possible. My wish came true when I received the e-ARC from the publisher and NetGalley (once again, thank you!).

Why She Wrote did not disappoint. I love everything about it, from the narrative structure to its illustrations. I love the format and how it's divided into several parts according to the themes. The biographies of various inspiring female authors are very fascinating and insightful.

However, I wish more authors of color are included in this book. It's sad to see that there are only three authors of color among the eighteen authors featured in this book. The rest are white and mostly Europeans. If there's ever a second volume of this wonderful book, I really hope it will be more diverse.

As I've said before, I love the illustration, but the comic strip could be pretty confusing because sometimes it has little to no correlation with the biography. Last but not least, the script font in the comic strip is also hard to read and I hope the publisher would consider changing it to a more readable font.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I will definitely check out the authors' podcast (Bonnets at Dawn) after this!