very inspiring. I think this is a book every woman and every man should be made to read for that matter... It motivated me and compelled me to push forth despite the obstacles I may find. These women have battled so much in the long road to equality for women. Now, we need to honour them by reading and enjoying/learning from their works, and by supporting other women who are going on a similar path.

I was given a free ARC courtesy of NetGalley.
Why She Wrote was nice. Each section was brief and easy to digest. I did learn some interesting facts about some beloved female authors but the writing was flat. The authors did not convey any passion to the women they talked about. They seemed to be novel paper dolls instead of real people.
3 out of 5 Stars

I received this copy an ARC from Netgalley. #NetGalley

Amazingly beautiful illustrations and words that hit your heart. This is a perfect book for women's month and I'm so glad that I got it from netgalley.

This was a very enjoyable, informative, and entertaining read! I really liked the way it wasn't just straight up written paragraphs about the lives of these authors, but included little snippets of their lives through comics. This aspect really made reading this book even more fun to read, as the art was also beautiful to look at. I also appreciated how the introductions for each women were not too long, but still managed to cover basic information. Personally, I learned a lot from this book and it was quite inspirational too. I thought that the selection could just be a little bit more diverse though.

Having taught British and American Literature at the secondary level for several years, I find this graphic novel a refreshing new resource to present author background information. Each author's chapter features a brief biography that provides background and context for the short comic episode illustrating their life. The chapters are sorted into thematic groups, such as authors who were financially-minded, authors who wrote under pen names, et cetera. The language is easily accessible for any students from middle through high school. Coupled with the comic sections, this is even a great text to encourage reluctant or struggling readers to engage in these famous biographies.

I do feel that some familiarity with literature is required to fully appreciate the nuances of these texts. For example, at one point, Emily Dickinson is mentioned in a section dedicated to another author, but Emily Dickinson doesn't feature at any point in this collection. Therefore, a student would need to know who Emily Dickinson was in order to fully appreciate the point. This would not, however, prevent someone from understanding the section as a whole.

In terms of lesson planning, if I were going to introduce Frankenstein for example, many of the major details of Mary Shelley's life are beautifully illustrated within these pages. The section devoted to Mary Wollstonecraft also provides a good understanding of Mary Shelley's unusual upbringing. That background information would help students analyze the symbolism throughout Shelley's novel as it relates to her life and experiences. This graphic novel would also be very useful in a social studies class investigating the development of women's rights. Central to many of the narratives throughout the novel is the women's suffrage movement. The afterward that explains Louisa May Alcott was the first woman to register to vote in her county leaves the entire narrative on a very positive and uplifting note. This is a refreshing and engaging way to research the development of women's legal and social issues throughout history.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advance review copy of this book!
I enjoyed this quite a bit, and I like how the authors found illuminating influences/moments in each writer's life, supplemented by background info. If anything, my only wish is for MORE graphic panels. This was a good effort and I think it'd make a great addition to school and other libraries.

This was an engaging read covering the personal lives of 18 classical, female writers and covers a lot of the influcence impacting their lives. I would highly recommend this book for any English teacher (and I will likely figure out a way to incorporate it into my own teaching!)

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is an amazing book. Not only did it give me new information around some of my favorite authors, but this book also gave me interest in authors that I previously had decided not to read. The illustrations were catching and entertaining as well. This book builds on the history, the stories and the legends of the authors. I would recommend this for those that love reading, are beginning readers, young girls or looking for new information on icons. This is a great book for everyone to enjoy.

A great collection of short comics dedicated to women writers. Each story tells a small piece of their lives with a written forward and afterword to give more biographical details and context. A list of relevant works is included as well if one would like to do further reading. I would have liked the inclusion of a few less celebrated authors as most in the collection are generally pretty well known. Overall though a great collection and good place to start for anyone interested in women writers or the history of literature.

this is a really lovely, clever collection that absolutely left me feeling inspired, which I guess is the purpose! I wish it was a bit more balanced in terms of diversity, but I did get a lot from it and enjoyed the structure as well

That I love literature I think it is clear. That Classics is one of my favourite genres it is also true. For these two reasons, when I saw that this book was available in NetGalley, I did not hesitate to ask for it.

The book tells the summarised biographies of 18 Classic Women writers such as George Elliot, Jane Austen, Alice Dunbar or Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

Then, focusing on one important moment in their lives, the narration turns into graphic novel, and we are told about that inflection point in the life of the writer but narrated with images. That is, the reason why these women wrote.

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

The book is divided in six sections, each one with a “common characteristic” shared by the authors highlighted in that segment.

The sections are: “The Horror of Everyday”, “Finding their voice”, “Activism as Art”, “Private Lives”, “Public Identities”, and “Protection and Profit”.

Then, Chapman and Burke introduce the reason why these three writers wrote. In the first section, for example, the three authors wrote about Gothic elements easily found in their every day lives, like “gloomy atmosphere, wild landscapes, castle ruins, and supernatural twists and turns”. However, they struggled as this new genre was considered inferior to the ones which male authors wrote in.

Later on, in each of the sections, three classic women writers are shown as an example of each topic. For instance, in the section about “The Horror of Everyday”, the authors narrate the lives of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Ann Radcliffe and Charlotte Brontë, the three of them famous for their “Gothic” novels.

Afterwards, each writer is introduced by a lovely illustration from artist Kaley Bales, and a quote from one of their works.

The comprehensive introduction of the writer’s life is quite short, of course. The book doesn’t pretend to be a “History of Literature”. But for someone who doesn’t know anything about the author, it is a good start.

At the end of the synopsis, the “inflection point” is introduced, and words lead to images. Illustrations then explain that important moment in the writer’s life. With Mary Wollstonecraft, for example, we find her struggling to find a topic for her novel, which later turned to be “Frankenstein”.

After the illustrations, the authors included the “selected works” of each author, for the reader to continue learning about them.

FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT “WHY SHE WROTE”

It has been a real pleasure to being able to remember the lives of some of the authors I have so much loved during the last 30 years of my reading life.

I knew about the majority of them; of a couple, I just knew their name. So reading this book has served me to grow my incredibly long TBR list.

However, it has been even more interesting to realize how all these women had struggled to reach their objective. They were all at some point rejected by society in general, not only by men. Some of them for being a woman, others for being Black and a woman.

But in the end they all succeeded. They are all big names in literature. And their lives should be told so that we don’t forget that persevering and hard work is the only way to reach your goals.

In my opinion, the combination of the written text and the illustrations makes this book very special. The illustrations by Kaley Bales, drawn in comic style, are gorgeous. Furthermore, she has captured the essence of the stories exceedingly well.

I will definitely buy a copy once it is published. It is a book that deserves to be owned. It is a beauty, as most of the books of Chronicle Books of which I own a couple.

————
I would strongly suggest you to subscribe to Chapman and Burke’s Podcast “Bonnets at Dawn”.
————

Thanks to the publisher, Chronicle Books, the authors Lauren Burke and Hannah K. Chapman and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of “Why She Wrote” in exchange for an honest review.

Short review: Good snapshots of important women in literature.

This mostly graphic book covers a wide range of women, 18 in total, and the defining moments in their lives. Each bio has about a page of text followed by illustrated vignettes. Each section ends with a chronological list of selected works. This book interested me because I'm currently reading Frankenstein and Mary Shelley is the first writer covered - but there are many more women of interest here, including her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft.

The chapters are organized into six categories: The Horror of Everyday, Finding Their Voice, Activism as Art, Private Lives, Public Identities, and Protection and Profit. They can be read in or out of order, as each chapter is structured thematically rather than chronologically.

I can see this being appealing to advanced middle grades readers on up to adult readers who are new to these literary biographies. It's fun, quick, and colorful. I do have an issue with accuracy in the Mary Shelley section - the opening paragraph says she was "a woman so goth, she carried around her dead husband's calcified heart until the day she died . . . " Just because I am studying her so closely right now, I learned recently that the heart was found in the back of a desk drawer after her death - we don't know that she carried it around, although I can see why they used this for effect. There are likely embellishments like this in other sections, but I don't know enough about any of the other writers to identify them. If you are interested, definitely do further research on these women!

I really like how connections are made - for example, the Mary Shelley section has a note on Anne Lister's comments about Frankenstein. Ann Lister is covered later in the book in the "Private Lives" section - and there's even a mention of the TV show Gentleman Jack, showing that these bios are recent/contemporary. There's also a great list of suggestions for further reading at the end of the book.

Thanks a million to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to look through the rest of this graphic novel.. As much as it’s a nice idea to give a background on well-known authors, I think the text should have been less and more focused as a whole graphic novel.. I also felt the text was rather small to read on the graphic part. Yeah to conclude, it would be better with pictures and a tiny bit of text..

A veritable treasure trove of facts and stories about some of the greatest women writers, with some notable illustrated instances. This is perfect to know about what drove these women to write and the situations they faced in their lives. I would recommend this to every reader because knowing the person behind the book is as important as the book itself.

My favourite parts were about the Bronte sisters and Louisa May Alcott.

Why She Wrote is a collection of stories on famously known classic women authors. I enjoyed reading the mini life summaries of each author and seeing those stories be brought to life through a comic retelling. I found this medium to be fresh and engaging. It also includes a list of works by each author! Personally, I felt like I should have more context on the works of these women before diving into this. I lacked this background knowledge for many of the authors -- but, while I did feel a disconnect, this book also made me appreciate each of them and want to look more into their famous works. Overall, this is a good non-fiction if you’re looking to explore some great classic women authors!

This was a great read. It felt super accessible, and even though I studied most of these writers in university, I learned new things about them through the intros and the comic version of the telling. It was a definitely a love letter to the women who struggled to make room for writers now. While not comprehensive, "Why She Wrote" provided a solid list of important women, with room to explore more less popular writers of their time.

I found this book while trying out NetGalley for the first time, so this ebook copy I read is an ARC.
Why She Wrote was a lot of fun to read. I enjoyed the little tidbits and facts I learned about the various classic female writers featured here. You can definitely tell that the authors of Why She Wrote really loved the subject matter and wanted to share that love. I hope that this book does inspire readers to pick up these various writers.
All good things aside, I do have a nitpick. I enjoyed the comic sections, but I had to squint a bit to read the cursive font. I feel it’d be easier to read if the font was either changed or if it was made a few degrees bigger.
The other thing I want to mention is that this book doesn’t have extensive biographies about all of the woman authors. Why She Wrote is more to give some quick information and to inspire the reader into doing their own research.
I also have been seeing some readers mention the lack of BIPOC authors. There were two black women authors and one biracial Chinese woman, and while I appreciated being introduced to these writers, I do think those other readers are correct. Seeing more BIPOC female writers would’ve been nice.
Everything considered, I do recommend this book and am glad to have learned some new facts about these women.

This was so joyous to read!
The illustrations were incredible and the women that were chosen to unfold were all so badass ladies!
It was really interesting to read that most of the authors in the book were inspired to write by the other women in the book. It was so interesting to see!
The cover and again, the illustrations, were so much fun.

While I really enjoyed learning more about why so many popular and history making women authors wrote, this book wasn’t all I had hoped it would be.

I don’t think the graphic novel pages did much for the book. I think they more so made the timelines confusing. I think what did work was the art included at the end of the author summaries. I wish the book had a paragraph, then an illustration, paragraph, illustration, etc, instead of the full 5+ pages of graphic novel art. The art IS good though. I like the style. Just not so much the purpose of it.

I did learn a ton in this book which I enjoyed. I appreciated that it wasn’t a long and boring telling of each author’s life. I liked how concise each author’s information was.

I also really enjoyed that the writing was focused solely on what got each author into writing, why they stopped (if they did), their work, and their struggle to be a writer.

My favorite was definitely Beatrix Potter. She’s a little wild, but I really liked her story the most.

Where do I find more of classic plus graphic?

This little treasure was all about the 18 most renowned and loved women writers who’ve made their mark in the literature world. Some of them have touched insurmountable popularity while some of them are relatively lesser-known and nonetheless talented and persisting. Though they differ from each other with their ruled eras and styles adopted or even genres, the purpose behind compiling their stories was to show how the world has time and time tried to belittle works of the women calling it unintentional and inferior to those compared with the male populace.

When I started reading this, I got a bit overwhelmed with the names and famous titles since I haven’t read much of the classics, but then I tried to look at it as an introduction which honestly, got me intrigued and kept me learning more. As someone who’s fascinated by the classics but is a complete fledgling, this was very helpful.

I also loved the artwork and how they chose the perfect scene in their respective lives to depict through graphics.

Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!