Great Women Authors: Their Lives and Their Literature

Rating:
Summary: As an introduction it's ok
Review: This book by Jane Stewart Smith and Betty Carlson was a bit disappointing. I've been exposed to Smith's critical review of Dickens in the past (in audio form) and was reasonably impressed.
I really expected more than I got in this book. The authors introduce the various women, but leave out some important information. For example, no mention is made of Louisa May Alcott's "pot boiler books" which are now available to modern readers. While they may not be of the quality of some of her other work, they certainly reveal a lot about Miss Alcott that Smith and Carlson don't bother to mention.

I was perplexed at their inclusion of Gertrude Stein in the book, particularly since they are recommending Stein's work. I suspect that the audience most apt to read Great Women Authors would be relatively unimpressed with Stein's work and would not really want their adolescent daughters reading her. Since this work is best suited as an introduction to women authors for younger readers (or perhaps older readers with little literary education) it would seem appropriate for them to tailor their list just a bit for that audience. This certainly is not a book for more sophisticated readers.

I will admit to using the Jane Austen chapter with a class of homeschooled girls with whom I was doing Pride and Prejudice. I had to go far beyond what Smith and Carlson included in order to cover Austen in what I considered an appropriate fashion, but their chapter was a good lead-in.

If you are looking for high quality scholarship you should look further. If you are looking for a simple introduction to some classic women authors this may fit the bill, but be advised that evangelical parents may not want their teenagers reading all the books they recommend.

Rating:
Summary: As an introduction it's ok
Review: This book by Jane Stewart Smith and Betty Carlson was a bit disappointing. I've been exposed to Smith's critical review of Dickens in the past (in audio form) and was reasonably impressed.
I really expected more than I got in this book. The authors introduce the various women, but leave out some important information. For example, no mention is made of Louisa May Alcott's "pot boiler books" which are now available to modern readers. While they may not be of the quality of some of her other work, they certainly reveal a lot about Miss Alcott that Smith and Carlson don't bother to mention.

I was perplexed at their inclusion of Gertrude Stein in the book, particularly since they are recommending Stein's work. I suspect that the audience most apt to read Great Women Authors would be relatively unimpressed with Stein's work and would not really want their adolescent daughters reading her. Since this work is best suited as an introduction to women authors for younger readers (or perhaps older readers with little literary education) it would seem appropriate for them to tailor their list just a bit for that audience. This certainly is not a book for more sophisticated readers.

I will admit to using the Jane Austen chapter with a class of homeschooled girls with whom I was doing Pride and Prejudice. I had to go far beyond what Smith and Carlson included in order to cover Austen in what I considered an appropriate fashion, but their chapter was a good lead-in.

If you are looking for high quality scholarship you should look further. If you are looking for a simple introduction to some classic women authors this may fit the bill, but be advised that evangelical parents may not want their teenagers reading all the books they recommend.