"Cities of Women" by Kathleen B. Jones is a compelling exploration of women’s roles in urban spaces throughout history. Jones adeptly intertwines historical analysis with feminist theory to reveal how cities have shaped and been shaped by female experiences. The book highlights the often overlooked contributions of women in urban development and challenges traditional narratives that marginalize their roles. Through vivid historical examples and insightful commentary, Jones crafts a narrative that is both enlightening and thought-provoking. This work is essential reading for anyone interested in gender studies, urban history, or the intersection of the two, offering a fresh perspective on the historical urban landscape.

While "Cities of Women" offers a compelling exploration of women challenging social norms across centuries, the narrative can feel sluggish at times, lacking the necessary momentum to sustain engagement. Despite its meticulous research and historical detail, the story may struggle to captivate readers throughout.

I wanted to love this book, but I did not. I did appreciate it, though. The research, skill, and love poured into the pages of this novel are inspiring. I just didn’t like the execution of the story.
For me, the book seemed to be a bit overwhelming. The multiple timelines, intricate characters whose stories were interdependent, and the frequent jumps and gaps in the narrative made it a challenging read. 
As a fan of dual narratives, I found this one to be acceptable. However, I must admit that I was more drawn to the chapters set in the past, particularly those that delved into Beatrice's character, than the ones set in the present featuring Verity. 
There were too many stories of too many women that were, at times, successfully woven together, but, for me, quite often seemed to unravel the connectedness between the women and their influence on the plot was lost. 
I may attempt a re-read in the future because I really want to love this book. It has all the elements I love in fiction: strong female protagonists, history, medieval timelines, books, and art. 
Thank you to Turner Publishing and Netgalley for the free copy.

I am sorry to say that I really struggled with this book. Historical fiction is definitely my thing and I really like books that explore scholars and the writing of history set against a historical timeline but I really struggled to get into this novel. It feels quite detached at times, as if you are looking at a character rather than feeling with them. I also think that sometimes the research can almost be a hindrance and takes you away from the story and, for me, this is what happened here. I did really want to love it but it did leave me pretty cold which is a shame.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book description forf Cities of Women sounded very promising to me, since I, too, was fascinated by the medieval era. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I was hoping for.

I would have hope to get more of the medieval story instead of a romance in current time. I usually love a dual timeline since it adds so much depths to the story, but here it wasn't.

I also found this book was incredibly well writen and we could really see the amount of research the author has done to write

This book consists of two timelines and multiple POV. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to my expectations. There were a lot of descriptions that served no purpose to the story and made me lose interest in the story overall. Some of the dialogues between the characters felt unrealistic and made the story not very believable. Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me.

The premise was very promising, and the book turned out to be beautifully written.

It started with dual POV and dual timeline (which I don't mind). We're introduced to Verity, a historian who focused on women's contribution in medieval era.

I enjoy the dual POV so much especially diving into Beatrice's mind thousands years ago.

I admitted that the book is well researched. However, some ppl might not enjoy the info dumping (I don't mind).

The pace is quite inconsistent to my liking.

If the premise suits your taste, give it a go.

Thank you for the arc, in exchange of honest review 🫶🏽

This books centers on Verity Frazier, a current day professor, who has a new interest in proving that Christine de Pizan, a fascinating published author who advocated for equality for women in medieval France, used a female manuscript illuminator. I learned a lot about the time period, the medieval process of bookmaking, and Christine de Pizan. I enjoyed the parts of the book set in medieval France told from Christine’s and Beatrice/Anastasia’s (the illuminator) perspectives. However, I could have completely done without the current day perspective from Verity. It was okay until she meets and begins a romance with another researcher…. it felt unnecessary, random, and not compelling.

I am grateful to have read this book and learned about Christine de Pizan and more about women’s lives in medieval Europe. The author clearly did a lot of successful research for those topics.

Thanks to NetGalley and Keylight Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this because I love a historical dual-timeline. The timeline bifurcates on present character, Verity, and her academic inspiration from medieval, female scriptor, Christine de Pizan and her illuminator Anastasia. The past timeline is also complicated by a time when women were not recognized for their work, but also the Black Plague.

What really did not work for me was the present romance between Verity & Anastasia, where I vacillated between bored and anger. Not only did I feel this subplot romance not add, but rather took away and made me confused as the conversations were stilted with frequent outbursts.

It's clear the author put in a lot of research behind this book, but the writing seemed to tell more than show.

An absolutely gorgeous cover and framework for the story, especially the switching perspectives between Verity, a modern academic, and Bèatrice, a medieval French artist. This should have been wonderful, but it didn't grab me after the first 50 pages. Hoping to return sometime soon for another go. Thanks so much to the publisher for the ARC.

A fascinating dual perspective and dual time period historical fiction novel, Jones introduces readers to the fascinating medieval authoress Christine de Pizan and her illuminator Anastasia as modern history professor Verity Frazier discovers the possibility of Anastasia’s existence. Readers follow Verity’s personal and research journey across England and France while also exploring what Anastasia’s life in the fourteenth century may have been like as a female illuminator in medieval France. In any dual perspective or dual timeline novel, the characters are the heart of the story, and Jones certainly does the historical figures justice, drawing on current knowledge of Christine de Pizan, the process of medieval illumination, and medieval women’s lives to create the character of Anastasia. Verity, too, is fascinatingly dynamic, with complex emotions and relationships that drive her half of the narrative forward. As for the settings, Jones brings readers back and forth from modern and medieval France while also venturing into England and the United States for other parts of Verity’s story. Jones’ novel about fascinating historical women and a modern woman of history draws fascinating connections on the invisible women of history whose narratives are yet to be published and brought into the light of visibility.

Normally I start my review with a book or two that the book I am review reminds me of. I cannot do this with this book, cause it deserves so much more than that. I LOVED this book. It was unique, in feeling and in story. I loved the way that multiple storylines came together, I loved the way books were incorporated in the story (as a book-lover myself). And I loved how this story is about strong women dealing with life. The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is that I feel that at the end the style of the writer and one of the main characters changed with no apparent reason. I would 100% recommend this book to anyone.

I thought this book would be exactly my cup of tea, but I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped. The historical elements were interesting and well-done, but much of the book is taken up by a romance, and I didn't really enjoy that.

This was a very in-depth portrait of the life of Christine de Pizan and Medieval manuscript illumination in general. It was a subject that I knew virtually nothing about going into this book and, unfortunately, I found that it is not a subject that holds much interest for me. I think that medieval history buffs will like this and will appreciate the depth of detail the author provides. I found that there was perhaps too much detailed descriptions especially of buildings. The plot was sometimes bogged down amid descriptions of daily minutiae.

There were multiple POV and two timelines. Our modern protagonist, Verity, has a romance with a very unlikeable woman. Anastasia’s behavior really soured Verity’s plot line for me.

Readers that like thoroughly researched and highly detailed accounts will probably enjoy the scope and depth of this book but it wasn’t for me.

This historical novel is an interesting story about the roles and lives of women in the 14th/15th century, which unfolds through the contemporary story of an American feminist historian, Verity, who travels to London and Paris to search for evidence that it was a woman called Anastasia who illustrated the works of Christine de Pizan, a poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and also known as an advocate for women’s equality.

I loved the telling of Christine and Anastasia’s story, which is beautifully written and Jones transports you back through the wonderfully detailed and descriptive writing about the struggles and resilience of women during that time.

The contemporary parallel story of Verity’s romantic life and her academic struggles to reveal women hidden from history is a stark contrast and not as interesting. At times I felt I was reading two different novels.

On reflection the marked contrast perhaps is reflective of the different times. Or perhaps, Jones just tried too hard to give more of Verity’s story to create the parallels.

Jones is a professor of women’s studies and her debut novel is inspired by Christine de Pizan’s 15th century work titled ‘Book of the City of Ladies’, described as ‘Written in praise of women and as a defense of their capabilities and virtues, the work is a significant feminist argument against the misogynist male writing of the day’.

Thanks to @netgalley and @turnerpub for the ebook in return for an honest review.

If you like historical fiction, particularly set in medieval Europe you will enjoy this. 3.5⭐️

I very much enjoyed the topic of this story and the history of forgotten women appealed very much. The dual time spans worked well, highlighting how little we know about the contribution women made. The narrative of the medieval story worked better for me, I felt the romantic element in the modern story unnecessary and that it did not particularly contribute anything. Overall it was a good holiday read for me as I was travelling through France.

I was intrigued by the historical story in this dual storyline historical fiction. The book focuses on a contemporary historian who decides to try to find the illustrator of Christine de Pizan's Cities of Ladies, and other works written by this 14th and 15th century writer. De Pizan was the court poet and writer for King Charles VI, an uncommon occupation for women of her time, but one of great talent. She also was one of the first recorded advocates for women's equality, included in her political and literary commentaries. I read Cities of Ladies as part of a college course on Renaissance writers and she is a fasciating figure, so I was eager to read this title.

The contemporary story, which focuses on a female historian who is disillusioned with the dissertation topic she is writing, is centered around the search for the artist collaborator who illuminated and painted decorations in the few surviving originals of de Pizan's works. While most artists of the time were men, this story postulates that since de Pizan was a female writer, it would make sense that she would employ a female artist.

I found the chapters that brought de Pizan and her female artist, Anastasia, to life the most compelling and interesting. I actually would have preferred this book to focus solely on the story of these two women as a strict historical fiction title, without the dual history aspect. I found the storyline of Verity somewhat disjointed and hard to follow. The addition of the contemporary Anastasia muddled this even more for me and all of their conversations sounded like something out of a 1950s movie. (Does anyone use "Darling" anymore?) I also had a bit of trouble following the tie-in to William Morris but I wanted more of that story too.

Overall, then, an interesting concept that I thought could have been handled with a bit more finesse to make it a very compelling novel about the "what if's" in the life of an extraordinary writer and champion of women's rights.

I've received a digital copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was so incredibly interesting, and as someone who has read some of Pizan's work, I was very excited to to learn a bit more about her background, and in general about medieval women in academia. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to my expectations. While the premise of the plot sounded intriguing, and indeed it was, it was lost in the countless and unnecessary descriptions of places, objects, daily tasks and actions that serve no purpose to the story at all. For example, there's a whole paragraph that details very thoroughly, how Verity purchased a ticket to the museum, sat down in a chair and used the coatroom. There wasn't anything wrong with these writing-wise, they just felt like filler sentences.
In addition to this I must point out, that some of the dialogues between characters felt really stiff and unrealistic, and not just in the medieval era chapters, but in the modern era chapters as well.
On the other hand, the topic I really enjoyed that this novel touched upon is Verity's struggle with academia, and combining her love of history with her professional work. And of course, that cover is just simply gorgeous!

I received this advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. My college library will be purchasing a copy for use in art history and potentially literature classes. I found this novel interesting, but I did not finish reading it in it's entirety. I lost interest at about the 25% mark. However, of the portion I read, I feel that it was well designed and had a very interesting premise. My challenge was not feeling engaged enough with the main protagonist and I struggled to stay interested in her storyline. As we began to follow the historical character, I was more intrigued by her story -- but overall the book did not hold my interest long enough to successfully complete it. This would likely be a good novel for people who are interested in art and historical feminist retellings.

Verity Frazier is at a crossroads, should she forego her own moral integrity to gain tenure in a field she's no longer inspired by, or should she be completely rash and pursue passion and an interesting hunch abroad? I liked this glimpse into the rarefied subject of medieval books, and the romantic academics devoted to it. Even though the setting is 2018, I liked how of-another-era Verity and Anastasia sounded. I enjoyed reading about solid things I could learn about like vellum, blued teeth, and history, more than the little supernatural bits and bobs that veered into magical realism.

Until the ending I felt that Verity was a fully-formed character whose actions and decisions made sense, compared to temperamental Anastasia's; I'll just say the ending came as a surprise to me. In a good way. Kathleen B Jones does a masterful job with all the beautiful settings: northern California, New York, London and Paris. This is a great debut novel, I loved learning she had studied and taught about Christine de Pizan's Book of the City of Ladies herself.