Have you ever stopped to wonder why some of the most famous authors out there were inspired to write? Well, the creative team behind Why She Wrote asked themselves that question, and here is their answer.

Why She Wrote: A Graphic History of the Lives, Inspiration, and Influence Behind the Pens of Classic Women Writers is an accurate description, and title, for this graphic novel. As this graphic novel tackles the stories of eighteen famous and beloved female authors.

This is a story that any interested reader should make a point of picking up. It allows for a quick glimpse into the lives and motivation of many authors we've known and loved for years. More importantly, it portrayed what some of them went through during the time they were making the decision to publish. It is something that adds almost a painful amount of context to their writing, in some instances.

It's also inspiring, in a way that I'm sure was intentional. And when not inspiring, it certainly is informative. I know that I learned a few things that my education or personal research never turned up. Gotta love it when that happens!

Why She Wrote is split into chapters, giving time to focus on each of the eighteen authors included. Each chapter includes a page (or more) of written history, details, and more about each author. Following that are the images that define this novel. They bring these true stories to life, in a way that is approachable for almost any age range.

The mix of a biography and a graphic novel didn’t work for me in this one. Graphic parts were disjointed, started and finished abruptly and some of them felt entirely out of place. The selection was also poor to my taste - only 18-20 century writers and very mainstream ones. There were lists of selected works after every biography but since there was no information about them at all, it didn’t motivate me to dig dipper.
However, it’s a beautiful book to gift to a person who has just started reading classics and needs some context. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for a fresh new perspective on your favourite women writers and ways to have more engaging reading experiences, I’m not sure this book is the best option. Can’t say that the art was impressive either.

This book is wonderful overview of Women Writers. The biographies are short and include illustrations. I was familiar with many of these authors and there was not a lot of new information. This book will make a great starting point for anyone wanting to learn more. It is well written and organized. Enjoy

This graphic memoir was impactful, well-drawn, and definitely will find its audience soon enough since it is so well-done.

This book is incredible! Everyone should read this. The stories about the writers are great and the illustrations are beautiful!

Why She Wrote: A Graphic History of the Lives, Inspiration, and Influence Behind the Pens of Classic Women Writers is a captivating book that sheds light on the lives of some of the most influential women writers in history. Here's review:

Firstly, the illustrations in the book are absolutely stunning. Kaley Bales' artwork is beautiful, and it brings the stories of the women writers to life. I enjoyed flipping through the pages and admiring the artwork, which added an extra layer of visual interest to the book.

Secondly, the book is well-researched and informative. Hannah K. Chapman and Lauren Burke have done an excellent job of compiling information about the lives of these women writers and presenting it in a way that is both engaging and accessible. I learned a lot about the struggles and triumphs of these women, and their impact on literature and society as a whole.

However, I felt that the book could have delved deeper into some of the stories. Some of the sections felt a bit rushed, and I would have appreciated more detail about certain events or aspects of the writers' lives. Additionally, while the graphic format of the book is unique and eye-catching, I found it to be a bit distracting at times. The combination of text and illustrations on each page could be overwhelming, and I sometimes found myself struggling to focus on the words.

Overall, Why She Wrote is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in women's history and literature. The illustrations are stunning, and the book provides a great introduction to the lives and work of some remarkable women. However, it could benefit from a bit more depth and a more streamlined format.

Why She Wrote by Hannah K. Chapman and Lauren Burke, Illustrated by Jaley Bales was a book I loved the cover and the premise of. I appreciate NetGalley for the thoughtful consideration.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

"Young Mary lost her mother in childbirth, but found her between the pages of her books".

Hola amistades ¿Cómo han estado? El día de hoy les traigo una mega recomendacion. Hace poco termine de leer de una sentada Why She Wrote escrito por #laurenburke @hannahchap y @polarbales.

Dos de las tres autoras comenzaron un podcast @bonnetsatdawn dónde platicaban sobre estás escritoras y su coraje por leer y aprender además de que compartían una economía incierta, rechazos a propuestas de matrimonio. Escogieron la escritura sobre la seguridad de un futuro con un hombre, tuvieron el reto de protejer su reputación. Lauren y Hannah nos comparten en este libro las conecciones entre más 15 autoras (cronistas, activistas, poetisas y escritoras) todas ellas vivieron combatiendo el estereotipo luchando contra estigmas e inseguridades. Siendo pioneras y empresarias.

Algunas escritoras que me llamaron la atención y que casi no veo en bookstagram:

Caroline Lamb.
Anne Lister
Harriet Martineau.
Anne Radcliffe
Francés Hudson
Luisa May Alcott
Beatriz Potter

Próximamente les estaré compartiendo más sobre ellas. ¿Conocías alguna? Los leo!

I found this to be a captivating graphic novel that asks straightforward questions about 18 incredible women authors, including Anne Lister, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Louisa May Alcott, and Jane Austen.

'Why She Wrote' tells the story of significant moments in each writer's life through comics that are fun and easy to understand, as well as biographical text, bibliographies, and interesting facts. This new collection highlights these incredible women's hardships, their influence, and the inspiration that inspired them to write for aspiring writers, literary enthusiasts, and the Janeite who has everything. A must read for anyone who enjoys the works of these famous female authors!

Why She Wrote is a non-fiction graphic novel that examines the biographies of 18 women writers from the 19th and early 20th century. Some are writers that you may be familiar with such as Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and the Bronte Sisters. Others are less known but still had remarkable contributions to the literary world. This book examines the questions of why these women wrote in spite of the barriers they encountered.

Read this book if….
*You loved your college literature courses or never got a chance to take one.
*You love Little Women or Pride and Prejudice.
*You want to learn more about the experience of writing during this time.
*You are open to seeing small slices of life of these writers.

Story:
Each of the 18 stories starts with a page long biography. Then, there is a comic sequence that gives a slice of life for the author specific to their writing. It would be impossible to tell the stories of 18 women but at times I wish they had covered fewer women but in more depth. Overall, I wanted to learn more about these women. That said, I learned a lot about the authors I did read about.

Illustrations:
I was a bit underwhelmed by the illustrations. They were clear in communicating the slice of life but I did not care for the color selection (a bit muted). The stories of these women are so powerful and I wanted the illustrations to match that power.

Verdict: I would recommend this graphic novel because of the stories about these women. I learned about a lot of women I had never heard about and their impact on the world.

ARC provided to me by Chronicle Books, in exchange for an honest review.

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

I liked the idea, but I felt the execution could have been better. I’d recommend it to a few people that would be interested in this type of material, but I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone.

Why She Wrote is a fantastically informative book, with lovely illustrations.
If you are interested in learning more about some of the best female authors in the English language, this is a great place to start.
From the most obvious Jane Austen to the surprisingly influential Anne Lister, there is so much to learn!

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in literature, or the history of modern writing.

I adored getting to learn about so many women writers' inspirations for their craft! I also had no idea so many of them were interconnected, inspired by each other, or had relationships with each other. I also enjoyed the way the women were grouped together by their motivation for writing; the structure felt intuitive, clear, and fresh.

The individual biographies and graphic stories themselves, however, I found a bit disappointing. While some of the women had fantastic features, another handful of the women had dull and confusing features. I was confused as to why many of the stories were framed in the ways they were. Wasn't this meant to be empowering and exciting, groundbreaking and illuminating? Some of the stories and speech bubbles even went so far as to spell out and suggest that often writing felt tedious, uninspired, dull, lackluster, and tiresome for the women. And while I'm positive all of them did feel that way at times, as had every writer in history, it felt like a total deviation from what the book was trying to do. It just seemed like an odd lens to frame the story around, after such a strong set up about the fearless expressive pioneering women in the field.

Overall, I enjoyed it, and I did learn some new fun facts and connections I didn't know before. However, I don't necessarily feel this achieved what it intended.

What a delightful book! An aspect that I loved about this book was that the authors were grouped together by an overarching concept and not just sticking strictly to a single linear timeline. Chapman, Burke, and Bales have collaborated to bring these brilliant historical women into living color through the graphic novel style. In focusing on episodes of the writers lives that align with the titular concept for each section the authors tease the reader with just a snippet about each woman. Enough of a snippet to be sure to spark an interest in investigating further! Happy reading!

DNF
I tried to read this and lost interest. Then, the copy I had expired. In the end, I DNFed this novel. I just don't think that it was the right time for me and this book.

The concept is a 5/5★, the excution more of a 3.5/5★.
The information presented was interesting, even if rather brief, some of the authors I ‘knew’ well, some I didn’t. Each writer has a dedicated section, with her portrait, a short bio, then a graphic part focusing on a key aspect of her life and work, followed by a list of works or fun facts.

I enjoyed finding out more about these pioneers, especially knowing how difficult it was for most of them to make a living out of writing, and I think this book is a great starting point if you want to research women writers.

4★
“For fun, we decided to start a podcast: ‘Austen vs. Brontë: Bonnets at Dawn.’ Just twelve episodes were planned, including “Northanger Abbey vs. Jane Eyre,” “Bath vs. Brussels,” and “Heathcliff vs. Darcy.”

I am definitely not the target audience for this book, since I'm not an Austen or Brontë enthusiast (I know, I know, sorry), but I think it will be pounced upon with joy by fans who want to introduce young people and those from non-English speaking backgrounds to their favourite writers.

I like the fact that Chapman and Burke wanted to continue their own interest in women writers whose work they’d enjoyed in their youth. Would they still like them today? Would they have enjoyed them if they hadn’t already read them?

The book is divided into six sections, each with a sub-heading and a couple of pages of general discussion by the authors. They have featured three women per section, beginning with a full page graphic portrait of each and their background in about 450 words or so.

I’m featuring Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s story. Yes, Shelley, as in Mrs. Percy Bysshe Shelley. Here’s her ‘portrait’.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
“Mary Shelley is a legend. A woman so goth, she carried around her dead husband’s calcified heart until the day she died; she made a monster and a whole new literary genre.”.

While Mary and Percy were on an extremely rainy holiday in Geneva, Switzerland, with Lord Byron and Byron’s current lady friend, Lady Caroline Lamb, Byron challenged them all to write, to while away the time. Mary's mother was the renowned author/activist Mary Wollstonecraft, who is also featured in this book, so she had a lot to live up to and hard acts to follow.

The introductory text sets the background and the scene, but the real story is in the graphic pages that follow, and they do tell a pretty complete tale.

While the others turned out poems and dreamed of a free-love utopia, she was grieving for the baby she’d just lost, wishing she could bring it back. So what did she eventually write, leaving them understandably gobsmacked? “FRANKENSTEIN”!

The illustrations are stylised and in full colour, so even poor readers will be able to enjoy familiarising themselves with some history and the famous stories which they may hear mentioned in conversations one day. Even if they haven’t read the ‘literature’, they can appreciated the story.

My Goodreads review has an illustration with the caption:
One of the 10 pages of graphics for Mary’s story

This happens to be a story I’m familiar with, and I thought the authors captured the tone of the relationships well in both the text and the graphics. I grew up with the old Classics Illustrated, and I know how much a basic story can stick with you when there are pictures, particularly if you’re an impressionable youngster.

There are countless readers who love these writers and others like them, so this should find an enthusiastic audience. I’m glad they challenged the status quo, even if they had to resort to using pseudonyms, so they could pave the way for all of the talented women whose works fill our bookshelves today. I am certainly a fan of their legacy!

Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted and shared illustrations.

This was educational and nice to read. I hadn't heard of several of the writers, which is not remedied.
I think the balance between illustrations and text was good and I loved the little scenes of their lives. And the fun facts!

An interesting read to recommend to all who like history and graphic novels.

/ Denise

This book is such a lovely idea! I appreciated learning more a bout the literary some feature d and I loved the illustrations., This is a great edition to any library and would make a great gift!