This is a great read. Some reviews mention the author speculating too much, but I found the author had grounds for what she said. There is so little known about these women comparatively, but the author provides great detail and context for the world these women grew up and raised families in. The book details a lot of horrible history, which I appreciated because so often a lot of the horrible details feel like they happened so far in the past, when in actuality they happened fairly recently.