pellepanda's Reviews (271)

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. 

This book tells the stories of three women, who's lives were intermingled with Victor Frankenstein's both before and after he created his monster. The book follows a chronological timeline where we get the stories of the mother, the bride, and the servant.

This book is beautifully written in the classic gothic style. I listened to the audiobook and Barrie Kreinik does an excellent job portraying the feeling associated with the genre. You definitely get the same feeling as you do from reading Frankenstein, for better or worse. The drawback for me is that it at times gets a little tedious, but that comes with the territory.

It's not an easy task to flesh out women who's already been established, but I think Waldherr does a good job bringing these women to life. It tells the story of people who have been ignored and cast as background characters, but the book is still centered around Victor Frankenstein in how they are connected to him. My biggest problem with them is that they still feel a little like caricatures of the time at points, and how similar the tone is for all three women (which could be a problem with the narration instead of the writing).

Overall I think the book is worth the read or listen if you enjoy gothic books or are a fan of retellings of classics.