Women Memoirs

Women played a critical role during the gold rush, and this is the only book that brings to light the stories of these diverse women. Backhouse delves into the lives of women - entrepreneurs, nuns, doctors, nurses, journalists, and dancehall entertainers among them - who were caught up in the gold rush and lived amazing lives. Through letters, journals, newspaper accounts, and personal interviews, Backhouse explores all of their untold stories.

Hillary Clinton is running for president as an "advocate of women and girls", but there is another shocking side to her story that has been carefully covered up - until now. This stunning exposé reveals for the first time how Bill and Hillary Clinton systematically abused women and others - sexually, physically, and psychologically - in their scramble for power and wealth.

This is the autobiographical novel by Harriet Wilson, the first African-American to publish a novel in North America. Originally published in 1859, it was rediscovered in 1982.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” life—from the founder of The Isolation Journals and a subject of the Netflix documentary American Symphony ONE OF THE...

1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of 21 years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened - by Elizabeth’s intellect, independence, and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. So Theophilus makes a plan to put his wife back in her place. One summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum.

In Shakkai, the eighth book in her bestselling Medicine Woman series, Lynn Andrews goes on an otherworldly journey unlike any she’s experienced before. Finding herself in Japan, Lynn meets the teacher of her future reincarnation, Shakkai, who helps Lynn discover the secret to healing herself and ultimately our endangered planet. Building on the wisdom she has gained through her many journeys into self-discovery, Lynn V. Andrews now moves into an altogether new and remarkable dimension. The place is Japan in the future, but her journey there is truly timeless.

Through the lens of her years spent as a sex worker, Charlotte Shane offers a “rigorous and compulsively readable memoir” (New York magazine) exploring what it means to be a heterosexual woman and a feminist in a misogynistic society. “A memoir of sex work that is also a poignant love...

Good wives don’t fall in love with other men. That's what Amber Rae—who also narrates this program—told herself when, in the midst of building a home with her husband in Mexico, she met the man she knew she was meant to spend the rest of her life with. Maybe in another life, she thought. But the truth was, for years, she smiled and strived her way through a sexless and lonely marriage, never admitting her unhappiness to anyone—not even to herself.

Read the New York Times Bestselling memoir that is "revealing, humble, and cool-aunt chatty" about the incredible life that inspired the hit Broadway musical Beautiful (Rolling Stone). Carole King takes us from her early beginnings in Brooklyn, to her remarkable success as one of the world's...

Virginia Hall: Most Dangerous unveils the extraordinary life of a remarkable woman who defied expectations, shattered barriers, and left an indelible mark on history. In a world dominated by conflict, espionage, and intrigue, Virginia Hall emerged as a force to be reckoned with. With unparalleled determination and unwavering courage, she overcame both physical obstacles and societal constraints to become one of the most effective and feared spies of World War II.

When Wilco's 2007 album Sky Blue Sky was infamously criticized as "dad rock," Niko Stratis was a twenty-five-year-old closeted trans woman working in her dad's glass shop in the Yukon Territory. As she sought escape from her hypermasculine environment, Stratis found an unlikely lifeline amid dad rock's emotionally open and honest music. Listening to dad rock, Stratis could access worlds beyond her own and imagine a path forward.

Sold is a terrifying, gripping and true story about a young Russian girl who dreams of a better life, but instead falls victim to trafficking. Seventeen-year-old Natasja is attracted by an offer to work as a nanny in Sweden. Her ticket to freedom turns out to be a worse nightmare than she ever could have imagined. Time and time again, she is sold to different men. But even though she is slowly falling apart, Natasja refuses to give up and silently starts to plan her escape. In Sold, she talks about how she managed to get free against all odds.

Faye tells her unforgettable story of heroism, hardship, and resistance. Faye was an ordinary teenager when the Nazis invaded her town on the Russian-Polish border. She had a large, loving family, good friends and neighbours, most of whom were lost soon after the horrors of the Holocaust began. But Faye survived, and the photographs she took testify to her experiences and the persecution she witnessed. Decorated for heroism, Schulman uses her biography to tell an extraordinary story not just of survival, but of struggle and resistance against oppression.

Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008, Susan Gubar underwent radical debulking surgery, an attempt to excise the cancer by removing part or all of many organs in the lower abdomen. Her memoir mines the deepest levels of anguish and devotion as she struggles to come to terms with her body’s betrayal and the frightful protocols of contemporary medicine. She finds solace in the abiding love of her husband, children, and friends while she searches for understanding in works of literature, visual art, and the testimonies of others who suffer with various forms of cancer.

Dolly Faulkner has many heart-stopping moments of terror and anxiety, living much of the time truly alone in the Alaskan wilderness. But she is not lonely, as the awesome space and beauty of the mountains fill her with appreciation of all things of nature. Dolly Faulkner came to Alaska as a young woman with the dream of living in the wilderness. Forty Years in the Wilderness is a true reality of carving out a homestead in the Kilbuck Mountains near a minor hotsprings that the regional Native corporation is now trying to claim.

Letters From My Sister began with a simple letter about a bad job interview or a bad hair day, seeking comfort from hundreds of miles away. One letter plus its response became two, two became four, and four became one hundred and twenty over the course of a year in which Faye approaches college graduation in Chicago while Eve establishes her career in New York City.

“Wickedly funny and always movingly illuminating, thanks to kick-ass storytelling and a poet's ear.” –Oprah.com The New York Times bestselling, hilarious tale of Mary Karr’s hardscrabble Texas childhood that Oprah.com calls the best memoir of a generation. The Liars’ Club took the...

Spirited and whip-smart, these laugh-out-loud autobiographical essays are "a masterpiece" from the Emmy Award-winning actress and comedy writer known for 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and SNL" (Sunday Telegraph). Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young...

When Lisa Najeeb Halaby was 26, her father introduced her to King Hussein of Jordan. Within a year, she became his fourth wife. Born in 1951 to a distinguished Arab-American family, Lisa was unsure what her role would be. King Hussein was not only the head of state in Jordan but also considered the spiritual leader of all Muslims. This memoir provides a vital perspective on 30 years of turbulent world history from the Arab point of view.

Winner of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize Winner of the 2016 Forest of Reading Evergreen Award After almost twenty years of caring for elderly parents—first for their senile father, and then for their cantankerous ninety-three-year-old mother—author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers...