Rosemary Hennessy, In the Company of Radical Women Writers, University of Minnesota Press, August 2023.

Thank you NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Rosemary Hennessy’s stories from Black, Jewish, and white women who saw communism as an answer to the problems arising from the Great Depression is a riveting read. Perhaps most significant is Hennessey’s belief that these seven women’s stories provide a guide to dealing with similar problems in the current political environment where unfair labour practices, racial discrimination, and environmental concerns remain searing 2000s issues.

Marvel Cooke, Louise Thompson Patterson, Claudia Jones, Alice Childress, Josephine Herbst, Meridel Le Sueur, and Muriel Rukeyser are women who were unknown to me before reading In the Company of Radical Women Writers. I am glad to have had this opportunity to become familiar with their work.

Hennessey’s writing is eminently accessible, and she generates a wonderful amalgam of the women’s stories, her speculations and research material. Chapter headings, I find, are an excellent pointer to the type of material as well as the ideas to be expressed in a text, and Hennessey’s are in this category. Titles that resonate are Centring Domestic Workers, Unsettling the Grass Roots, The Radical Ecology of Meridel La Suer, and Shadowing the Erotics of Race Work. Others open so well. For example, Life-Making Essentials, Life Writing Inventions, the first chapter title is such a broad statement. However, Muriel Rukeyser’s quote clarifies so beautifully – a clever device. The chapter in which Claudia Jones’ features opens with some of her poetry, later using material from Carole Boyce Davies’ biography to further contribute to knowledge of erstwhile hidden as aspects of Jones’ poetry.

The acknowledgements cast a useful addition to the information in the book, there are detailed and copious notes for each chapter, a bibliography and index. The Preface, reminding readers of the Covid-19 pandemic, is instructive, with its attention to current events as well as providing a thoughtful introduction to the radical women writers of the book. Speaking of the time Hennessy had available to listen, and the time other women, to reveal their pasts, is a reminder of how time (even if determined by negative outside influences) can be so important in developing a work of merit. Hennessey has used her time, research skills, adept use of material and easily read writing to create a book that really meets the criteria for a text of merit. I valued it.

I had high hopes for this book when I started writing, especially after the extremely well-laid out prologue chapter. Hennessy clearly had a roadmap when she set out to write this book. However, even though she laid out her path quite well in the prologue, those pages showed the flaws that made this book interminably boring to read. The prologue went on far too long.
The other main thing that turned me off about the narrative was Hennessy's frequent turn to casual speculation about whether certain women would have encountered each other's works or other sorts of possible coincidences. Obviously, a historian needs to make some speculations about various parts of their subject's lives and works since they often work from incomplete details. However, decent historians avoid most allusions to speculation as much as possible and certainly do not mention those speculations in the narrative itself.
I also would have appreciated more references to the works of these women since Hennessy spent a large portion of the narrative discussing the impact of these women's works.

Wow, this is an impressive work. I have a deep level of respect for Rosemary in her collection and analysis of this topic -- and the author's passion for it is evident in each page.

This isn't an "easy" read, in the sense that it required all of my engaged faculties to get through in a way that was valuable and honored the work itself. I was reading slowly, marking things, taking time for analysis of the language as well as my understanding of and reflections on the topic, which is, in short, a thoughtful look at the radical writing of seven women and the attention they paid to to “life-making” and the relations supporting survival and wellbeing. These writings, and their authors, confront issues of labor, land, and love in ways that provide urgent, thought-provoking guidance.

In following the work and life of these female writers who turned to radical politics in response to political and social upheaval, we learn that life is sustained across a web of dependencies that we each have a duty to maintain. Their work brought into sharp focus the value and dignity of Black women’s domestic work, confronted the destructive myths of land exploitation and white supremacy, and explored ways of knowing attuned to a life-giving erotic energy that spans bodies and relations.

From Harlem to the American South and Midwest—this book is truly is a thoughtful and thought-provoking work, in revealing the women's groundbreaking reconceptions of the political.

It was my first introduction to many of these women and their lives and work, and it was an intense and valuable learning experience. It opened my eyes to new ways of thinking that felt groundbreaking and empowering. The reading of this book became a necessary and important thought exercise I'm glad to have undertaken, and I believe it will inspire further thought and research into the concepts of "life-making," especially, as it relates to domestic labor, land, race, and eros. Incredibly eye-opening and a catalyst in consciousness.

As I mentioned, this was a heady read, using language that felt at times inaccessible, and a seemingly unwieldy organization that took intense concentration to follow at times. With an often interrelated cast of characters spanning locations and time, the reader's attention must be vigilant for comprehension. But again, the author must be respected for her efforts in putting together a deep-dive work not only of writings and authors long-unknown, but of weaving together and balancing a masterful narrative (and analysis of) significant historical moments in the focus of these women.

A challenging but worthwhile read. I found the discussion of intimate distances to be particularly interesting.

Thank you to Univ Of Minnesota Press and NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. IN THE COMPANY OF RADICAL WOMEN WRITERS is out now.

In the Company of Radical Women Writers reads like a textbook, the author is an academic and she appears to be speaking to other academics, it's not a bad thing just something to be aware of. I also think that this book will be more interesting to readers who already have a primer on the work of the authors discussed (I personally had less than I thought and found myself having to do some searching on the side but maybe that's just me).

The author's passion is visible and sometimes it gets absolutely enthralling but at times it also gets a little clunky. A lot of labor went into the writing of this book, if you enjoy a well-researched and carefully written book, you will not be disappointed with this one.

Hennessy doesn't provide a ton of dates and I think it was a wise choice which reinforces the connections she draws between the then and now in a subtle but effective way. Hers is an history that relies on giving you a solid understanding of its context and of the interconnectedness of events, people and communities rather than an easy to follow timeline of events.

Ran out of time to read this Netgalley. I wasn't in the mood to read about communist writers from the 1930s.

In the Company of Radical Women Writers is a great look at seven women (Marvel Cooke, Louise Thompson Patterson, Claudia Jones, Alice Childress, Josephine Herbst, Meridel Le Sueur, and Muriel Rukeyser) and their lives, political beliefs, and their influence on feminist theory. It is very clear from the beginning, that Hennessy is very passionate about this topic and that made this book a fascinating read.

Rosemary Hennessy, in In the Company of Radical Women Writers, explores the lives of several twentieth century women writers, many of whom interacted with radical social movements or identities in their personal and professional lives. Hennessy focuses specifically on less popular women writers from this period, and she explores their connections with other major socio-political events from the period, particularly the Great Depression and the late Harlem Renaissance. Hennessy’s seven subjects are diverse and represent specific ethnic groups, and this new focus on women’s literature and their connections with the radical elements of their lifetime provides a fascinating insight into the cultural and political connections in the mid-twentieth century. Hennessy’s familiarity with and passion for the topic is abundantly clear throughout her text, and she successfully explores these women’s narratives and lives through the book. While the chapters may be unwieldy, Hennessy’s sectional organization adds another layer of analysis to these seven case studies, and her ability to balance multiple narratives within a specific historical moment is masterful. Hennessy introduces readers to a fascinating cast of twentieth-century radical literary women in her new book In the Company of Radical Women Writers.

Rosemary Hennessy’s In the Company of Radical Women Writers was an excellent read and I highly recommend it. This book tracks the work and life of a variety of female writers who turned to radical politics in response to political and social upheaval. Hennessy is a lucid writer who makes the dense research in this book read like a page turner. She does an elegant job drawing connections between contemporary concerns about land, economics, and gender to the work of these women, proving that their work is still powerful, moving, and relevant for today’s readers.

I will definitely recommend this book to my students and colleagues. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

Rosemary Hennessy wrote In The Company of Radical Women Writers at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic during lockdown. She writes about being on leave from work and having a desire to learn from the lives of women who survived the Great Depression.

In The Company of Radical Women Writers contains a history of seven women writers who were influential to the development of feminist theory as well as providing an overall history of these women's political lives. The women highlighted in the text include Marvel Cooke, Louise Thompson Patterson, Claudia Jones, Alice Childress, Josephine Herbst, Meriden Le Sueur, and Muriel Rukeyser.

I enjoyed the approach Hennessy took towards her study of these women. She provides the reader with a well-rounded point of view of the impact the turbulent times they lived through had on who they became, the labor they carried at home, their relationship to the fight for racial and social justice, their relationship to the land and honoring of indigenous cultures and contributions, and the interdependence of communities of support among women that kept them motivated and connected to a larger purpose in their work.

If you are someone interested in learning more about the way women's work and the interdependent nature of women's efforts have created movements of change, this is a great reading selection for you!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!