I enjoyed this smart, well-researched account of the British women who helped form the field of Egyptology through their patronage, archaeological skills, and scholarship. Deftly explaining the social mores of the time period and the restrictions on women in British society, Sheppard unpacks the value of all of the work done to create and keep archaeological and other scholarly societies going, the ways in which women obtained training that was generally forbidden to them, and how they shaped the narratives of discovery and history in the excavations of Egypt's early rulers. The book is thorough but never pedantic, and provides readers with the fruits of meticulous research in numerous archives and libraries. No subject is taboo: Sheppard explains that many of the women involved in the work were queer, and how their relationships enabled them to do the kind of work they did and influenced their outlook on women in charge. I can't wait to get a copy of the print version and see the photographs, which are omitted in this Kindle version.

An overview and biography of several women who were important to the fields of archaeology and Egyptology but received little-to-none of the acclaim due to them. Covering the 19th and 20th centuries, the book was both an interesting overview of how archaeological explorations worked in Egypt at that time as well as a chance to learn about these women and their lives, as well as their specific accomplishments in the form of administration, organization, and education. I enjoy reading about archaeology so some of the background was familiar to me, and I think the book may be a little difficult if you are coming to it with no knowledge of Egypt in the late 19th-early 20th centuries or the process to assign archaeological sites. It's great to see the lives of these consequential women get attention. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Interesting andwell researched book about 7 women who were Egyptologists. I wish these stories were intertwined versus a chapter for each woman. Being non-fiction, it is very straight forward and could be boring if you're not ready for straight up non-fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

An interesting book about little known females in history. Sometimes a little dry and long winded and then sometimes leaves you wondering what you missed. Perhaps some more editing would improve the read. Informative.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
This book focuses on the women who helped with many different aspects of excavating in Egypt with their time, talents, and money. There is a lot of detail, but the personal expriences are the most interesting. There are a few places where it seems like you are just hearing about the same details from another POV so perhaps a few things could've been edited out, but overall I found it to be an interesting read about this time in history.

I so tried to get into this story but it just didn't hold my attention I have been to the Valley of the Kings and thought it would be so interesting. I'm sure others will love it. Just not for me.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the lives of women and their ability to make their own decisions were constrained unless they were wealthy in their own right and unencumbered by a spouse. In that case they could, with suitable companionship, travel and explore foreign countries. This is the history of such women who visited Egypt, became fascinated by it and made it their life’s work to learn about and pursue the excavation, and often the acquisition, of ancient Egypt structures, tombs and artifacts. They supported and helped institutionalize the development of Egyptology. Unremarked by history, they were an influential part of it and deserve to have their story told. Well researched and footnoted, the book reads like an academic paper which I found to be a bit dry.

If you're into Egyptology or archeology, this fascinating book should be on your shelf. On the other hand, if you only have a mild interest and little or no background, you may find it a frustrating read. I fell somewhere in between and found certain parts of the book absolutely fascinating and intriguing while I must admit to skimming through others. For me, given my prior interest, I think it's safe to say this book will take me more than one read to take in all the information shared. Kathleen Sheppard has done a great deal of research and it shows. You'll definitely appreciate the index and notes at the end listing sources and perhaps pointing you off on your own search for more on these mostly little known women.

Basically, what you have here is a rather thorough history of not just these women and the archaeology of Egypt, but a decent history of Egypt's history itself. It's solid and not particularly detailed but more than adequate to give readers a feel for the give-and-take and various international influences on the area. Like many, I probably first became interested in this area due to Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of "King Tut", so it was intriguing to read about the various women who were there before and during his time. It was also interesting to be reminded that early excavations were, sigh, almost anything but done carefully, think dynamite, rather than each item being carefully retrieved and documented. As a lover of history, it made me sad to imagine how much was lost but, anyway, on to the ladies.

Many that came were wealthy, many flocking to Egypt in hopes the dry air might improve their health. For instance, Lady Duff Gordon, one of the more recognized names in the book, traveled to Luxor, Egypt, in 1864 hoping for a tuberculosis cure. She wrote of her experiences and all the wonders she saw. Her writings would inspire others, others who play key roles in this book. I'm not going to detail these women, much as I'd like to (see the blurb for names), as it'd take pages, but will say that each touched those who came after in some way. While we do get to know these women as the book goes along, the focus is on their work, not them as private individuals. Most documented their stays in some way, often through letters home or diaries. Some of their writings, to their credit, reveal the workers who did the grunt work, the heavy, tedious work, giving them their due, too. I should also note that these women were largely shunted aside and their contributions largely forgotten or even ignored, so I applaud Sheppard for giving them the spotlight.

Bottom line, I plan to go back through this book periodically to better digest what is within. These women deserve that. I simply cannot imagine the difficulties they faced while surrounded by people whose language they didn't speak and men who considered them inconsequential and thus not only made it more difficult for them to get official permission to excavate but gave them little credit for all their accomplishments. Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartin'sPress for letting me time-travel back to this Golden Age of Egypt's exploration and archaeology to meet these intriguing women.

though I liked the subject matter quite a lot, the writing itself was a bit dry and tedious. However, there is a lot of interesting information in here. though I don't believe it would hold the attention of high school students as a full volume, I will recommend it to our history department as an important resource.

This was an excellent overview of some of the many women who helped to found the field of Egyptian archaeology. It was great getting to learn more details about women I'd only heard mentioned in passing, and Sheppard did a fantastic job of exploring their many contributions to the field. I especially liked her focus on the importance of administration and academics, and she really highlighted the many ways women were essential even if they weren't manually digging out tombs themselves.

My only complaints would be that the tone could be a little uneven, jumping back and forth from dry, academic text to very chatty speculations about what the women were thinking or feeling, and it could be a little confusing when the story jumped around in time, going from the 1950s, back to the 1890s, back to the 1920s again. However, even though I would've liked a more in-depth, chronological survey that explored multiple women's viewpoints simultaneously, I can see why the book's current structure might make it a little more accessible and fun for some to read.

I am linking my public review below - this is a great book! However, in terms of editing, it is pretty clear that a chapter/longer section about Lucy Duff Gordon was originally in the text as there are several instances when she is referenced in a way that assumed the reader is familiar with her life and experience - these mentions will need to be edited out unless you plan to put the chapter back in!

This book is informative, but a little dry in passages. I enjoyed learning about women's contribution to Egyptology, but it felt like there was a lot of information forced into this.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is seriously into Egyptologu or women's history. It's not really for your average reader looking to pass the time in my opinion.

An interesting addition to women’s history collections, Kathleen Sheppard tells the story of women studying Egyptology in an age when only men were recognized for such feats. Using diaries, map, and travelogues readers learn of the work of Lucie Duff Gordon, Amelia Edwards, and Marianne Brocklehurst as the excavated throughout Egypt. They paved the way for other women to do the same. More women’s history we didn’t learn in school.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy.

4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: archaeology, Egyptology, ancient Egypt, women's history

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 4/21 and will be posted to my review blog 5/23.

This book offers an interesting overview of the women who shaped Egyptology and helped ensure its continuation as a discipline. All but one of the women was British, and the one who wasn't was American, so Sheppard does note that even when women stepped into the field it remained very Euro-centric. Initially, a lot of the women who joined Egyptology did so because they had the money to go on a European tour or a change-of-air health tour and found what was going on in Egypt interesting. This means that the field skewed definitively toward wealthier people.

I enjoyed learning about the women and how their contributions often weren't as obvious as men's (i.e., they weren't the ones doing the digging) but were as important and arguably more so. Many of the women here were integral for ensuring the proper recording, sorting, and preservation of artifacts, not to mention were often involved in processes like getting money for the projects to continue.

It was interesting to see how the field changed and how for a period of time it was relatively normal to see women on Egyptian archaeological sites before a misogynistic turn in the 1920s/30s. I also found it interesting to see just how interconnected the field was. Everybody seemed to know everybody. Flinders Petrie and James Breasted were very involved and knew a lot of the women mentioned in this book. Likewise, a lot of the women in this book knew each other, and some of them were even partway responsible for introducing each other to the field.

My main issue with this book is that I think the chapters are too long for how little they say. I think a lot of them could have been shorter or with editing could have cut down on some of the fluff to increase the amount of information provided on the women and still be the same length.

Overall this was a pretty interesting overview on women in the field of Egyptology. I enjoyed seeing how the field changed over time and how the women engaged in different activities that nonetheless were integral to the survival of the field and to artifacts.

A bit rough around the edges due to the unfinished aspect of the book but still a fascinating read about these largely unknown women in Egyptology.

Interesting angle and perspective on Egyptology, debunking a lot of misconceptions we held about the people who spearheaded this study. The book shared letters and testimonies about three interesting women. This is a book sorely needed in our age.

Having the opportunity to read an early copy of this was greatly appreciated because the synopsis for this was fascinating and growing up, I learned a lot about ancient Egypt and the Valley of the Kings and I’m a big fan of learning history (hated it in school, love it on my own) so I really wanted to read this.

Women Egyptologists weren’t as well regarded at the time as men (not much has changed on that front either, unfortunately) but they changed the face of history regardless and reading the entries about their lives was intriguing. Very well researched and presented.

This isn’t the type of book I was able to read all at once - this took quite a few sittings to get through - I think I would have preferred listening to an audiobook of this over reading it. But I did enjoy learning more about this and would recommend to readers interested in the Gilded Age, Egyptian history, or simply those interested in history.



Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

This book was fine as a summary of the women who played key roles in 19th-20th century Egyptology, but it didn't really grab my attention. It's possible that separate biographies would make me feel more invested. If you're a committed Egyptophile (if there is such a word!) or perhaps a devotee of the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters, you might find it interesting. As someone with a relatively casual interest, though, I wasn't hooked.

This book tracks Amelia Edwards, Maggie Benson, Emma Andrews, Myrtle Broome, Caroline Ransom Williams, and other women Egyptologists, and how their work contributed to the field. These women are only a few who made great contributions but are hardly mentioned. The book is well researched and informative. The details the author provides help us imagine what the daily life of these women may have been like.

"If one had the time to travel and the money to support excavations or purchasing artifacts, or both, that was enough to make you an archaeologist at this point in the history of archaeology in Egypt."

During the Golden Age of Exploration, there were women working, exploring, and traveling long before Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut. Before men even conceived of claiming the story for themselves, women were working in Egypt to lay the groundwork for all future exploration.

Their stories have been lost, omitted or just forgotten. But in this book we discover the women who went to Egypt and their stories.

Lucie Duff Gordon, Amelia Edwards and Marianne Brocklehurst. Their diaries, maps, and step by step looks at their travels and their finds.

They were up against a lot of oppression, bad behavior, and sometimes loss of credit for a dig. But each of these women paved the way for the women who came after them.
What a beautiful story this is. I love learning about women in Egypt and this was the perfect book for me.

NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press July 16, 2024