Rosemary Hennessy

In the Company of Radical Women Writers by Rosemary Hennessy is both a wonderful history and a call to action for our present times.

As a history of radical women writers during another period of crisis, the Great Depression, this volume puts the words these women wrote into the context of their times. When reading writers of the past, especially those who might have been, and still are, marginalized, their words can be taken in ways that would have horrified them. Placing their lives and their words within the very specific context of both their current events and their lives allows contemporary readers the opportunity to view what they were doing in relation to what they were reacting to. That is where history becomes both interesting and instructive for our lives now.

The powerful part of this book is its ability to let these women speak to our present crises through our understanding of how they spoke to their own. While women have, and still do, shoulder an unfair share of the burden when systems (such as capitalism, especially our current vicious form) break down, these radical women from almost a century ago can show all of us a way to respond that might alleviate the current ills while building better for the future.

The lessons to be learned here are for all of us, it isn't (or shouldn't be) just for women. Since society still uses its own form of "two spheres of influence," though admittedly more as a weapon than an organizing principle, some may think this book is for women. I think it speaks to all of us if we are inclined toward sharing the load and working together.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (plus d'informations)