A great, informative and interesting read. I really liked the combination of comics and detailed writing about each author.

YES YES YES!

I so enjoyed this smart, beautifully illustrated graphic novel about some of history's greatest female writers. The essay on each writer is short, with more pages given to the graphic adaptation of their story, and I loved that Chapman and Burke chose to highlight one essential part of each woman's life instead of trying to cover their entire biography. Their focus on what is was, specifically, that drove each woman to write helped me to see each writer as an individual, and gave the illustrations the space they needed to shine.

This is a book I would have loved to receive at a young age. It was informative and entertaining. I learned a lot about writers. I learned about new writers. I felt like it was well put together and well researched, and well needed.

I think the graphic novel by Hannah Chapman and Lauren Burke is an excellent introduction to young students about women which this book celebrates famous women writers including Mary Wollstonecraft, Anne Radcliffe, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Louisa May Alcott. Each of the chapters is divided into sections that speak to the accomplishments and themes that the writers have pursued or expressed in their works. Some of the themes include the horror of every day, activism as art (which I love), private lives, public identities, and protection and profit. I absolutely loved the artwork and accessibility of each narrative that was set here.
This graphic novel will appeal to young girls and will celebrate the work of British and American women writers. While this is an excellent graphic novel that celebrates feminism, my only critique is that for young girls of colour, this book will inspire but they may not be able to relate completely with it. Given that the title is "Why She Wrote", I would have expected other writer's stories who were feminist women of colour including Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Harriet Tubman, Jumpha Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni among others who have created their imprint in the Western world as well and their stories would have made this book more diverse and accessible to everyone from a diverse background.

Thank you so much for the chance to read this awesome book in exchange for honest feedback. I’m excited to share a lengthier review on social media (links will be provided in this message to the publisher when they are available) because this book is really cool, and I know several people specifically who I think will enjoy it. I loved the format — the graphics are really entertaining, vivid and interesting. Even more importantly, the content was highly informative and interesting — I loved the concept of this book and it was executed brilliantly.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the range of (classic) authors included. Additionally, I think the biggest strength in this book is the way it tells the story. The graphic depictions along with the other text is just brilliant. I loved this book!

This was a book I didn't know I needed right now. A reminder that women have always fought, clawed and wrote their way to be recognized, treated as human beings, to be seen as more than what the world has said they [and we] were/are.

With an essay before each set of illustrations, this book tells the tales about women authors of the past that we love, but know very little about. And boy do we learn things about them. Not one was a "weak, fragile, female"; they were all strong in their own right and fought to be seen, heard and honored for who they were - writers. Authors. Women.

I learned so much, even about my favorites [Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a particular favorite and I like her even more now] and I am so glad that I read this.
If you love the classics and love the women who wrote many of them, I highly recommend this to you. I was not disappointed. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lauren Burke, Hannah K. Chapman, Kathy Bales, and Chronicle Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Why She Wrote is perfectly suited for a new generation of young feminists. In one healthy volume, Burke, Chapman, and Bales have anthologized the most consistently studied women writers from fresh perspective with the use of the graphic novel format and thematic organization as opposed to a chronological one. Whether a reader is a writer becomes secondary to the cultural insights provided by the introduction to each flash biography. We learn of struggles, perseverance, successes, and defeats. Key works by each author are highlighted; in addition, the graphic novel portion often connects the works to their inspirations or their place in the author’s life events and complete body of publications.

The amount of detail contained in Why She Wrote is impressive. Unfortunately, this may turn some readers away. Once the structure has been established, it becomes repetitive, perhaps making the book more useful as a reference resource or a teaching supplement for lessons on individual authors.

As a cover to cover read or in bits at a time, this one crosses genre lines to become something fresh and new. It is a bold undertaking by three women who pay homage to but also work in the very essence of the artists they have memorialized.

Thank you to the authors/illustrators, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely lovely graphic novel that mixes in the right amount of visual storytelling with contextual background. Each section gives an interesting bit about a literary woman that lets the reader become enamored, and research on their own.

The illustrations are also just delightful and really add to overall guide to make a cohesive collection. Definitely will be recommending this to friends!

This part-textual, part-graphical collection of short biographies of women writers was a nice read. Apart from the very well-known writers such as Bronte sisters and Austen, this collection had surprising additions like Alice Nelson, Frances Burney, Frances Harper among others. Though the title "classic" seems a bit misleading since there are some modern authors here too. Also, I would have liked to see some writers from other countries too. But the visual narratives are interesting to browse through.

Famous classic female authors and the reasons why they started writing. This was very inspiring as a a woman, I'd recommend this to every book lover and wannabe-writer.

This is the type of book that every bookworm should read. I really enjoyed learning about female writers from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries in a graphic novel. I was fortunate to get an ARC of Why She Wrote thanks to #NetGalley. I will be heading to my local bookstore to pick up a physical copy though. It's a "must add" to my home library.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for a digital galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions stated are my own. I was very excited to read this book and learn more about amazing female authors, many of whose books I adore. However, I must admit I was a tad bit disappointed with this book. It was marketed as a graphic novel but the majority of the book was not a graphic novel but writing. I would be more okay with that if the writing didn't feel like I was reading a boring textbook. The one thing I did love about the book was the art and art style. Overall, it was a great topic and concept but a bit boring and misleading.

This book is what I needed when I was younger.
This book is perfect for any reader of all ages be them children wanting to learn about feminist writers and literature history. Exploring the other side of copyrighting tackled by Beatrix Potter was a story that isn't always promoted.
The comic strips help explore the biographies from multiple standpoints from a way which become more appealing to varying audiences such as 10 year old or overall fans of graphic novels.
the way the chapters are grouped into 3 authors all linked by an underlying theme help link amazing women who often wouldn't be linked such as Sui Sin Far and George Elliot, male nom de plume's of female trailblazers.
I look forward to having the stories of authors from the 20th century possibly to be told.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
#netgalley

3.25 stars. This was a really nice mix between information and comic strips of famous women who wrote, but I didn't feel like I got a whole lot of information on any of the women, especially when I am already familiar with some of them from Monster, She Wrote. Review to come.

Due to working as a high school teacher, I am often behind on reviews, but here are my initial thoughts. Book will be included in March 2021 wrap-up.

A wonderful little graphic intro to some of the landmark female writers of the western canon! The art style was so cute, and I learned some things about some of my favorite writers that I hadn’t known before. Also lovely to see POC and lgbtq writers in the mix!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC.

This book was so much more than what I expected, I was waiting for reasons behind these women decided to start a writer's career (and I got that) but I got the relationship each had with each other. I got to "meet" writers I didn't know existed, and/or facts about these women that have been kept private or secret for taboos or social things that make me feel awful. I love how the authors of this book added the part of these women that were activism, feminism, and pure independent of what their families or partners thought. How those obscure details, as some of these women having relationships with other women or having affairs, were exposed and explained here. Not because I like the "bochinche" (as we say in Puerto Rico), of it but because we can see how real they were, the flaws in their stories (not only with the affairs but with other details of their lives too). I think this book is a good way to introduce children into these amazing writers that gave so many other women, including their child, the base to step onto and be the writer they want to be. The only reason I took a star (and is not a whole star, it is 5) Is because I was expecting a full graphic novel but it includes short written biographies of each author.

Why she wrote è uno dei saggi più belli che abbia mai letto, e di sicuro il più stimolante.
Bellissima la prefazione in cui, piuttosto che ricercare differenze e unicità delle scrittrici trattate, si pone l'accento sulle loro similitudini e su quanto alcune di esse ne abbiano influenzato altre.

Non solo di romanziere parla il testo, ma anche di attiviste, poetesse, donne che si sono battute per i propri diritti intellettuali, che hanno dovuto nascondersi dietro pseudonimi maschili e superare notevoli difficoltà dovute ai tempi in cui sono vissute, spesso alle precarie condizioni economiche, quasi sempre al fatto di non essere degli uomini.

Il volume non racchiude aride biografie, quanto piuttosto brevi - ma non per questo non esaurienti - testi che pongono l'accento sugli eventi più importanti e sul background delle scrittrici, facilitando la contestualizzazione.

La presenza di brevi fumetti è stata fuorviante, perché mi aveva fatto pensare ad un volume per bambini o ragazzi. Le tavole, invece, - dichiaratamente romanzate - si occupano spesso di momenti molto difficili delle vite di queste donne, come il terribile intervento subito da Frances Burney, tuttavia c'è anche spazio per eventi più gioiosi e piacevoli, come la scoperta di un amore insperato da parte di Elizabeth Barrett Browining.

Ogni capitolo si chiude con alcuni aneddoti - spesso simpatici - riguardanti le scrittrici, e un elenco dei loro lavori, che spinge il lettore a ricercarli per saperne di più.
Accanto ad autrici più conosciute e famose come Jane Austen, le sorelle Bronte o Beatrix Potter, il saggio permette di conoscerne altre, come Edith Maude Eaton, nata da madre cinese e padre inglese e dedicatasi soprattutto alla narrazione di storie di immigrati euroasiatici, o le attiviste afroamericane Alice Dunbar Nelson e Frances E.W. Harper, che si batterono per i diritti delle donne e della loro gente.

Why she wrote è un volume che consiglio a chiunque mastichi l'inglese - sperando che venga presto tradotto in italiano - e di cui metterò in wish list la versione cartacea.

Why She Wrote provides a short overview of women writers throughout history.

I was really drawn to this book to learn more about women writers and it was very informative while being concise. This book is part written biography and part graphic novel, which at points I enjoyed and other parts I found it to not flow.

At times it was was hard to follow the story in the graphic novel sections as there wasn't much background to what was happening. I learned a lot from this book and found the overviews of the writers to be so interesting. The illustrations were not my favorite and sometimes the script used was difficult to read.

Overall, I think this was a really cool way to discuss classic women writers and think those who love classics would really enjoy this book.

•Character development- 4☆
• Story Plot- 3.5☆
• Side characters- 3.5☆
• Flow of the story- 2.5☆
• Overall - 3☆

I am thrilled to review this graphic novel if only because it has all of my favorite lady authors in it and I get to read more about the reasons behind "why they wrote." Without Netgalley I never would have known this graphic novel was coming out. What an amazing piece of literature! Each author has a comic and a page long biography that really gives the reader interesting information about the author. This book is a prime example of why non-fiction graphic novels are so amazing and important, they can take large broad topics and bring them to a more focused and fun media to learn from. Amazing book, I will be recommending it.

I was really interested by the concept of the book, which is why I first requested it.
I enjoyed the structure of the book (chapter divided by theme featuring3 to 4 author each) and the way each author was presented (a portrait, 1 page of written biography followed by a graphic storytelling about the author and, finally some facts and a bibliography), it was clear and gave us the main information regarding those authors. I also really enjoyed the art, I thought it was going very well with the theme and stories of the book.

However, I was a bit disapointed that only English speaking author were represented, I would have liked to see more translated author (the only exemple that comes to my mind just now is the French author George Sand), as well as more BIPOC and LBTQ+ author. It would have been nice to get to discover lesser known author.

Overall a good introduction for readers who want to discover some of the big name of English literature.