This book is completely fascinating and fantastically written. Ramie Targoff has done a spectacular job bringing to light the lives and works of a fascinating group of overlooked and under appreciated women. Thank you to Quercus for the proof of this one - an absolute joy to read and a title I've been really enjoying hand-selling to customers.

I would like to thank netgalley and Quercus for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was full of interesting info about these four remarkable women. the book is a little dry, and it can get confusing swapping between the different women.

I'm always interested in women history and this is an excellent book that made me learned more about women who wrote and where intellectual.
I only read about Mary Sidney before, not about her poetry but her scientific research. The other women were new to me but i found their story interesting.
Well written and informative, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm here for pretty much any book that helps to prove Joanna Russ' point that women have always written, and that society (men) have always tried to squash the memory of those women so that women don't have a tradition to hold to. (See How to Suppress Women's Writing.)

Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary and Anne Clifford all overlapped for several decades in the late Elizabethan/ early Jacobean period in England - which, yes, means they also overlapped with Shakespeare. Hence the title, referencing Virginia Woolf's warning that an imaginary sister of William's, with equal talent, would have gone mad because she would not have been allowed to write. Targoff doesn't claim it was always easy for these women to write - especially for Lanyer, the only non-aristocrat. What she does show, though, is the sheer determination of these women TO write. And they were often writing what would be classified as feminist work, too: biblical stories from a woman's perspective, for instance. And they were also often getting themselves published - also a feminist, revolutionary move. A woman in public?? Horror!

Essentially this book is a short biography of each of the women, gneerally focusing on their education and then their writing - what they wrote, speculating on why they wrote, and how they managed to do so (finding the time, basically). There's also an exploration of what happened to their work: some of it was published during their respective lifetimes; some of it was misattributed (another note connecting this to Russ: Mary Sidney's work, in particular, was often attributed to her brother instead. Which is exactly one of the moves that Russ identifies in the suppression game). Some of it was lost and only came to light in the 20th century, or was only acknowledged as worthy then. Almost incidentally this is also a potted history of England in the time, because of who these women were - three of the four being aristocrats, one ending up the greatest heiress in England, and all having important family connections. You don't need to know much about England in the period to understand what's going on.

Targoff has written an excellent history here. There's not TOO many names to keep track of; she has kept her sights firmly on the women as the centre of the narrative; she explains some otherwise confusing issues very neatly. Her style is a delight to read - very engaging and warm, she picks the interesting details to focus on, and basically I would not hesitate to pick up another book by her. This is an excellent introduction to four women whose work should play an important part in the history of English literature.

Everyone knows Shakespeare; the myth, the man, the legendary playwright who encapsulated the late Tudor, and early Jacobean eras with witty plays and soulful sonnets. However, Ramie Targoff makes it clear that he was not the only writer of the Renaissance. In Shakespeare's Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance, Targoff brings to light four women whom history seems to have nearly forgotten, hidden in Shakespeare's shadow.

Well-researched and compelling, I devoured this book from cover to cover and it has me fascinated by the Renaissance era and wanting to know more about more female writers during this era in England's history. Targoff's Shakespeare's Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance is a must-read for any history buff with a fascination for England's Renaissance period and anyone who wants to read a detailed memoir of an era in women's history.

Thank you, NetGalley and Quercus Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“Shakespeare’s Sisters” shines a light on the lives and works of four significant but little known writers, giving us a better rounded view of late 16th and 17th century English literary culture. As the title implies, the writers are all women, and @ramietargoff ’s new book is a wonderfully thought provoking exploration of how their gender (among other factors, including class, health, and political upheavals) affected what they wrote, when they wrote it, and their legacies.

Mary Sidney was a poet, editor, patroness, and member of one of C16th England’s leading political and cultural dynasties, but on her husband’s death she lost a lot of her literary clout.

Aemilia Lanyer was also a poet, a tutor, sometime mistress to the Queen’s cousin, wife to a recorder player, daughter of an Italian immigrant, thought by some to have been a muse of Shakespeare, said by others to have written some of his plays (Jodi Picoult has a novel about it out this autumn, and Sally O’Reilly wrote one 10 years ago).

Anne Clifford was a diarist, autobiographer, family historian, daughter of two powerful aristocratic families, and indefatigable battler for the vast northern estates her father tried to deny her (she stood up to the King and refused to be cowed by Oliver Cromwell). In spite of this, her work was hidden for hundreds of years until her distant relation Vita Sackville West discovered it.

Elizabeth Cary was a playwright and religious rebel, a lawyer’s daughter whose life and love of literature inspired her daughters to pen her biography.

It was a pleasure to discover more about these women and their writing. My only gripe is structural nit-picking: the book switches chronologically between its four subjects rather than following each life in a straight line, which made it tricky to keep track of what was happening to who at times, but it could just be me and would less of an issue with a physical copy.

I was going to whinge about it not having the stunning cover of the print version (see @anabooks grid), or the author’s name, but I suppose it's ironically appropriate given the subject.

It’s published tomorrow.

Thanks to @netgalley & @quercusbooks for the EARC.

This book is a much have for every Tudor and English literature lovers out there!

The Introduction made me so intrigued, even starting with the roots of Shakespeare Sisters (from Virginia Woolf) and using it as the way to look at these women is truly clever.

The women who are looked at are brilliant in showing how people can be connected even in different circumstances. Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary and Anne Clifford are all exceptional woman and I am thankful this book has introduced me to them.

The important part for me is how Targoff even looks at how after death these women and their works came to be forgotten or erased. The impact of how these women are treated after death is big in making the reader annoyed and ready to fight for them to be remembered for their works.

The layout of having each chapter a different part of one of the women’s lives makes the connection between them more impactful.

I am someone who is terrible at reading books where a different point of view or person is looked at every chapter. I made it fun to read one chapter a day (to not confuse myself) and make it like a treat at the end of the day to continue the learn about these incredible women.

To all the Tudor fans, literature lovers and, women’s history readers this is a book you need and will want to have on your shelf

Ramie Targoff's Shakespeare's Sisters is an important look at the lives and works of four women writing at the same time as Shakespeare in Renaissance England. Readers may be aware of Mary Sidney who was a poet, but may not have been aware of Elizabeth Carey the playwright, Anne Clifford the diarist or Aemilia Lanyer the poet. And you wouldn't be remiss if you didn't, as until the 1990s nearly all texts by women Renaissance writers were either unpublished, out of print or their authorship was obscured in some way. So far, so patriarchy.

Targoff's work is fairly chronological, and takes a biographical look at what we know of these women's lives, what they wrote and how they appeared in print to others who knew them or knew of them.

Aemilia Lanyer's story and poetry was especially interesting as she was from the middling classes - connected to the royal courts by way of her musical family.

I also found it fascinating that all four women used their writing to present and centre the experiences of women and even to put forth feminist views in defence of women's rights - I loved a particular passage from Lanyer's Salve Deus:

"You came not in the world without our pain, Make that a bar against your cruelty;
Your fault being greater , why should you disdain Our being your equals, free from tyranny?"

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - it wasn't overtly academic or taxing but was full of hugely important and absorbing information. It's genuinely exciting to think of what other gems historians and archivists will uncover now there's a field of history dedicated to women and their exploits - as Targoff says, "the more of these voices we can uncover, the richer our own history becomes. The future of the past is full of women."

I will post to Instagram and bookshop review pages nearer publication date. Thank you so much for an amazing book!

This book is a fascinating glimpse into the varied lives of sixteenth century women. The fact that they were able to survive and succeed iin the world of literacy is amazing. A very well presented and researched book.

Ramie Targoff , Shakespeare's Sisters Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance, Quercus Books, riverrun, March 2024.

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

Ramie Targoff begins with a reference to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own in which she compares the success men win for their literary efforts in comparison with women of similar talent. Essential to women’s opportunities she believed were money and independent space. Also of importance to Targoff’s effort to bring four women writers into the history they deserve, is Woolf’s reiteration of the story of Judith, Shakespear’s imaginary sister. Judith, it is said, was as brilliant a writer as William, but her sex reduced her to obscurity. Targoff aims to give the four sisters about whom she writes their deserved place in the history of writing. Anne Clifford, Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer and Elizabeth Cary are given their literary due in this detailed account of their lives and work.

Targoff’s book is resplendent with detail. The women’s status, domestic and public lives and writing history and successes, alongside further details of their work, is thoroughly explored. So too is the political, social and economic environment in which they worked. My only quibble about this delightful book is that further detail of the literary context would have, I think, added to even greater understanding of the magnitude of the women’s achievements. (NB. the Epilogue incudes relevant sources).

The material related to women’s role in translating familiar and unfamiliar texts is particularly enlightening. Beginning with a discussion of Elizabeth 1’s translations – a formidable feat which Targoff sees as one of the ways in which she established her credentials to rule – it is demonstrated that the Queen provided a role model for other women writers. Mary Sidney’s poems to Elizabeth and her translations and Elizabeth Carey’s feminist restating of earlier differently interpreted works are significant examples, rich in detail, of the work undertaken by the four Renaissance women writers to which Targoff turns her searching eye.

Shakespeare's Sisters is a well written expose of the way in which four indefatigable women writers of Shakespeare’s time worked against the walls erected to maintain them in their obscurity. They have managed to escape that obscurity through rigorous attention to truth-telling about women’s position in a work which combines academic rigour with a lively and entertaining text which is detailed but accessible.

There is an excellent epilogue in which further reading is listed; each chapter has detailed endnotes; family charts provide valuable information about the women and their families; and colour plates are included in the text.

This work of non-fiction is an absolute gem. It’s a fascinating premise that is superbly written and researched and holds one’s attention. Ramie Targoff lifts the veil on Renaissance England from a woman’s perspective, offering an inspiring, indispensable vision of indomitable (if sometimes unfamiliar) characters. It will undoubtedly appeal to readers beyond the narrow academic clique.

My thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for granting this e-ARC.

this was pretty great, actually! i didn’t know many of the women featured in this book even though i’m a phd student in english literature, so that’s already saying something. it was informative & also very well written, with an engaging prose & enough factual information for it to sound well-researched without clogging the text with too many quotes or sources. lovely stuff!

Ramie Targoff's excellent nonfiction book Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance features several of the gifted female writers of 17th-century England.

This is such a great selection of female writers from England's Renaissance period, some of whom are more well-known than others.

Learning more about these accomplished women's lives and experiences, as well as more about British society and history, was interesting.

There are so many writers who get ignored and forgotten, particularly those who portray women. They merit a moment in the spotlight, and the thorough investigation indicates that the author has been successful in bringing them there.

I was eager to read it as soon as I saw the title and blurb. Though I don't typically read nonfiction, I adore reading historical diaries and historical feminism!

This was a fascinating, in-depth look into the life of female Renaissance writers and the obstacles they encountered, despite their privilege and money.

While I was familiar with Mary Sidney, I was unaware of the other authors covered in this book. The devotion of Anne Clifford to preserving her heritage and claiming what was properly hers, the poignant and lovely psalm translations by Mary Sidney, the feminist-focused Biblical stories and support of female equality by Aemilia Lanier, and the female-led plays by Elizabeth Cary all had a lasting impression on me!

Aemilia was the fourth published female writer in England, but did you know that? And that for hundreds of years, people have mistakenly claimed that she was Shakespeare's lover?

This is a lovely book that is well worth your time, even though it might be dense at points! It is completely jam-packed with fascinating anecdotes about culture and customs!

I got this book for a review on netgally.

I was instantly interested to read this non fiction when I saw it. Women who wrote and published works when a time it wasn't very accessible for women to be writers? Instantly intruiged. Very informative about different women and their lives and others. It sometimes felt a bit heavy with all the info but that's quite common for me and non fiction. I didn't know about them before so always great to learn something new.