In Cities of Women we meet Verity who is a modern day academic who is feeling a disconnect with her current work. Her passion is resurrected by an art installation, which leads her on a quest to find the notorious Anastacia from Christine De Pizan's "The Book of the City of Ladies". Simultaneously we are introduced to Bèatrice, a woman in the 14th century. As we follow Veirty on her scholarly journey we learn both of a of a life lived undiscovered by history, and another trying to uncover that history.

The research talent of the author is very clear throughout the book, seen both in the modern and the historical chapters. Jones has done an excellent job bringing history into this book, even if I find it to be a bit much at times where accuracy comes in the way of the flow of the book. This is a personal preference, where I find too many "unnecessary" details added.

The writing in this book is two sided for me. Early on I found the Verity chapters to embody the arrogance of academia, both in the books vocabulary, but also the descriptions. Complex words are tossed around that I think will deter readers, especially people who isn't well versed in English academia. As someone who's native (and study) language isn't English I found it tedious. On the other hand the author is extremely skilled in painting a picture with words, and if that's important to you as a reader, this should be good for that.

I really wanted to love this book with my whole heart. When I started reading it it felt like an instant 5 star book, but it ended with me having to set it down for a while to really digest it and see what I felt about it. The first half had me hooked (mainly the Bèatrice chapters), but the enthusiasm ebbed. The romance sideplot in the Verity chapters felt very forced and hurried to me, where the characters became more and more unlikeable as the book went on. I'm sorry the book didn't turn out the way I would have liked, but it's not a book I regret reading.