I found this book a little hard to get through because there was lots of big chunks of information which I personally found quite tricky to comprehend

A huge thank you to Chronicle Books for giving me an advanced reader copy of “Why She Wrote” written by Hannah K. Chapman & Lauren Burke, and illustrated by Kaley Bales in exchange for an honest review via Net Galley . This book is out April 20th!

Ever since taking a Women Writers’ lit class my freshman year of college, I have been vastly interested in not only the work of female authors throughout history (and today, of course!) but the lives that they lead. As an art teacher and artist, I also am a sucker for graphic novels or really any illustrated books. This all being said, “Why She Wrote” was a dream to explore!

I loved that the authors chose to not only highlight the “greats” of women writers that come to mind when we hear the phrase, but also ones that have not been featured enough and deserve to be household names, as well, like Alice Dunbar Nelson, Frances E. W. Harper, and Edith Maude Eaton (Sui Sin Far).

Being able to visualize the lesser-known stories from these women’s lives was a treat, and made me feel more connected to their works. It also provided me with gems I had not known about, such as the fact that Virginia Woolf wrote a biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning through the perspective of Browning’s dog, “Flush”.

This book reignited my desire to learn even more about women writers throughout history, and I pulled out both my well-read and still-unread books that came to my mind while reading “Why She Wrote”. I highly recommend getting a copy of this graphic history book to get excited about what amazing women have blazed the trail for writers today. This was a 4 star read for me!

This book is so much fun! As an English major, I have read many classic works of literature written by some amazing women, some of which are included in this book. I had so much fun reading about all of these women!

This book is a graphic novel that gives a brief overview of the lives of many female authors through history who had to fight obstacles in order to get their works published and respected.

Even though the descriptions of each of the women are brief, I learned so much about some of my favorite classic authors that I did not know before! This book also showed me some women who I only knew their names, and now I can say I know some information about them and why they are so amazing!

Reading this book, I feel such a large amount of respect for what each of these women went through in their writing careers. I now want to pick up every single work by each of these authors.

I also loved that at the end of each author description, there was a list of all of the author's known works so then if a reader wants to go read the authors work, there is ready made lists to pick from!

This was inspiring and adorable to read. It's definitely got something for everybody, and is equal parts entertaining as it is educational. You get so many different perspectives of influential female writers through time and gain so much more insight on what that's like. These feature famous phenomenal female writers throughout time, and we may be familiar with some of their works, but their lives and things out of the page is just something else to read! It was fun, it was a good time, it's definitely something any classics fan should know about!

This is an educational and accessible blend of a graphic novel and a biographical book focused on female writers mostly of the 18th and 19th century. With beautiful art, an enthralling structure, and filled with many facts and figures, this book is an excellent introduction to these writers. While some chapters were choppy and disjointed, I still appreciated the love and care put into this work!

This book is amazing! It is interesting to have another perspective from these authors.
I enjoyed it so much and I would honestly like to have a second book with more authors.
The illustrations were on point and easy to comprehend. I will recommend to my friends

The history of famous literary figures comes to light with this perfect blend of text and comic. Perfect for feminists, lovers of history (or should I say, her-story) and lovers of literature (of which I am all three), 'Why She Wrote' showcases the trials and successes, highs and lows, of 36 famous female authors writing journey.
The book demonstrated the position of women in their society and analysed the different effects of publication. I learned a tremendous amount and definitely added a bunch of new books to my TBR.
Honestly, non-fiction and biographies have never really been my thing but the delivery of these stories was perfectly executed and made the book extremely enjoyable. I actually wanted more information and found myself falling into the rabbit hole of research. I found it hard to contain my excitement when coming across authors whose work I had read, or whom I had researched for school. I enjoyed reading all these women's stories, especially those which belonged to queer or POC authors. The strengths and accomplishments of these women were extremely empowering.

The book contained 6 parts, each containing the trials and tales of three authors. The first part, the mysteries and fears, truths and lies, behind the inspiration of infamous novels. The second, the trials and tribulations faced by these authors and reviewers attempts to discredit and undermine them. The third followed risks and fights that were overcome through perseverance and strength, and the huge influence these women had. The fourth focused more on the personal events that shaped these authors and their works, beautiful love stories, codes that made history, and a fantasy world living inside. The fifth addressed the need for pseudonyms, and the risks that required anonymity. And finally, the legal, economic and social impact of these authors and the struggles that come with success.
Wrapped with a gripping introduction and strong conclusion, the book teaches what school does not in a gripping and exciting manner.

I would definitely love to see more additions, featuring more authors.

A great, informative and interesting read. I really liked the combination of comics and detailed writing about each author.

YES YES YES!

I so enjoyed this smart, beautifully illustrated graphic novel about some of history's greatest female writers. The essay on each writer is short, with more pages given to the graphic adaptation of their story, and I loved that Chapman and Burke chose to highlight one essential part of each woman's life instead of trying to cover their entire biography. Their focus on what is was, specifically, that drove each woman to write helped me to see each writer as an individual, and gave the illustrations the space they needed to shine.

This is a book I would have loved to receive at a young age. It was informative and entertaining. I learned a lot about writers. I learned about new writers. I felt like it was well put together and well researched, and well needed.

I think the graphic novel by Hannah Chapman and Lauren Burke is an excellent introduction to young students about women which this book celebrates famous women writers including Mary Wollstonecraft, Anne Radcliffe, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Louisa May Alcott. Each of the chapters is divided into sections that speak to the accomplishments and themes that the writers have pursued or expressed in their works. Some of the themes include the horror of every day, activism as art (which I love), private lives, public identities, and protection and profit. I absolutely loved the artwork and accessibility of each narrative that was set here.
This graphic novel will appeal to young girls and will celebrate the work of British and American women writers. While this is an excellent graphic novel that celebrates feminism, my only critique is that for young girls of colour, this book will inspire but they may not be able to relate completely with it. Given that the title is "Why She Wrote", I would have expected other writer's stories who were feminist women of colour including Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Harriet Tubman, Jumpha Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni among others who have created their imprint in the Western world as well and their stories would have made this book more diverse and accessible to everyone from a diverse background.

Thank you so much for the chance to read this awesome book in exchange for honest feedback. I’m excited to share a lengthier review on social media (links will be provided in this message to the publisher when they are available) because this book is really cool, and I know several people specifically who I think will enjoy it. I loved the format — the graphics are really entertaining, vivid and interesting. Even more importantly, the content was highly informative and interesting — I loved the concept of this book and it was executed brilliantly.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the range of (classic) authors included. Additionally, I think the biggest strength in this book is the way it tells the story. The graphic depictions along with the other text is just brilliant. I loved this book!

This was a book I didn't know I needed right now. A reminder that women have always fought, clawed and wrote their way to be recognized, treated as human beings, to be seen as more than what the world has said they [and we] were/are.

With an essay before each set of illustrations, this book tells the tales about women authors of the past that we love, but know very little about. And boy do we learn things about them. Not one was a "weak, fragile, female"; they were all strong in their own right and fought to be seen, heard and honored for who they were - writers. Authors. Women.

I learned so much, even about my favorites [Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a particular favorite and I like her even more now] and I am so glad that I read this.
If you love the classics and love the women who wrote many of them, I highly recommend this to you. I was not disappointed. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lauren Burke, Hannah K. Chapman, Kathy Bales, and Chronicle Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Why She Wrote is perfectly suited for a new generation of young feminists. In one healthy volume, Burke, Chapman, and Bales have anthologized the most consistently studied women writers from fresh perspective with the use of the graphic novel format and thematic organization as opposed to a chronological one. Whether a reader is a writer becomes secondary to the cultural insights provided by the introduction to each flash biography. We learn of struggles, perseverance, successes, and defeats. Key works by each author are highlighted; in addition, the graphic novel portion often connects the works to their inspirations or their place in the author’s life events and complete body of publications.

The amount of detail contained in Why She Wrote is impressive. Unfortunately, this may turn some readers away. Once the structure has been established, it becomes repetitive, perhaps making the book more useful as a reference resource or a teaching supplement for lessons on individual authors.

As a cover to cover read or in bits at a time, this one crosses genre lines to become something fresh and new. It is a bold undertaking by three women who pay homage to but also work in the very essence of the artists they have memorialized.

Thank you to the authors/illustrators, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely lovely graphic novel that mixes in the right amount of visual storytelling with contextual background. Each section gives an interesting bit about a literary woman that lets the reader become enamored, and research on their own.

The illustrations are also just delightful and really add to overall guide to make a cohesive collection. Definitely will be recommending this to friends!

This part-textual, part-graphical collection of short biographies of women writers was a nice read. Apart from the very well-known writers such as Bronte sisters and Austen, this collection had surprising additions like Alice Nelson, Frances Burney, Frances Harper among others. Though the title "classic" seems a bit misleading since there are some modern authors here too. Also, I would have liked to see some writers from other countries too. But the visual narratives are interesting to browse through.

Famous classic female authors and the reasons why they started writing. This was very inspiring as a a woman, I'd recommend this to every book lover and wannabe-writer.

This is the type of book that every bookworm should read. I really enjoyed learning about female writers from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries in a graphic novel. I was fortunate to get an ARC of Why She Wrote thanks to #NetGalley. I will be heading to my local bookstore to pick up a physical copy though. It's a "must add" to my home library.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for a digital galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions stated are my own. I was very excited to read this book and learn more about amazing female authors, many of whose books I adore. However, I must admit I was a tad bit disappointed with this book. It was marketed as a graphic novel but the majority of the book was not a graphic novel but writing. I would be more okay with that if the writing didn't feel like I was reading a boring textbook. The one thing I did love about the book was the art and art style. Overall, it was a great topic and concept but a bit boring and misleading.

This book is what I needed when I was younger.
This book is perfect for any reader of all ages be them children wanting to learn about feminist writers and literature history. Exploring the other side of copyrighting tackled by Beatrix Potter was a story that isn't always promoted.
The comic strips help explore the biographies from multiple standpoints from a way which become more appealing to varying audiences such as 10 year old or overall fans of graphic novels.
the way the chapters are grouped into 3 authors all linked by an underlying theme help link amazing women who often wouldn't be linked such as Sui Sin Far and George Elliot, male nom de plume's of female trailblazers.
I look forward to having the stories of authors from the 20th century possibly to be told.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
#netgalley