This book had been sat on my shelf unread for over a year before I finally picked it up and I was entirely surprised by how interesting, accessible and enjoyable the book was. Jenni Murray is a journalist who has picked 21 women that she admires or thinks were/are interesting from around the world and throughout history. She makes very clear that this is her own personal selection based on her own experiences which I think is important and relevant. This book therefore isn't intending to be a pinnacle text on women of the world or a full biography of these women. However, I think Murray does a good job of selecting a range of women from different fields, backgrounds, periods and experiences to showcase women's role and lives throughout history.
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Murray's selection of women is diverse and interesting and some of my personal favourites were her biographies of Frida Kahlo, Coco Channel, Hatshepshut, Benazir Bhutto and Hillary Clinton. She offered an interesting introduction into the lives of these women and sought to channel stereotypes that have been associated with them. The book also covered chapters on Joan of Arc, Artemisia Gentileschi, Angela Merkel, Empress Dowager Cixi, Catherine the Great, Clara Schumann, Wangari Maathai, Golda Meir, Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, Isabella of Castille, Cathy Freeman, Madonna, Anna Politkovskaya, Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Marie Curie. All of them were fascinating and interesting explorations of these women.
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This book reminded me of why I love history and made me buy books on Benazir Bhutto and Frida Khalo to learn more about their lives. I think this is an enjoyable look into the lives of women throughout history. I would only say there are a couple of trigger warning/explicit sections where she talks about a rape that happened to one of the women that could be uncomfortable for readers and unsuitable for younger readers. Besides this I thought the book was really well written and I want to learn more about all of the fascinating women in this book.