Secret Voices: A Year of Women's Diaries

by Sarah Gristwood

A captivating collection of extracts from women’s diaries, looking back over four centuries to discover how women’s experience—of men and children, sex and shopping, work and the natural world—has changed down the years. And, of course, how it hasn’t.

In this fascinating anthology, with a selection of entries for every day of the year, you’ll find Lady Anne Clifford in the seventeenth century and Loran Hurscot in the twentieth both stoically recording the demands of an unreasonable husband; Joan Wyndham and Anne Frank (at much the same time, but in wildly different settings) describing their first experiences with sex; and Anne Lister in the eighteenth-century north of England exploring her love affairs with women alongside Alice Walker in twentieth-century California.

From Barbara Pym purchasing daring lingerie and Virginia Woolf relishing her new haircut to Sylvia Plath chronicling her ups and her downs and a stoical Amelia Stewart Knight on the pioneer trail, this book contains a rich mix of incredibly well-known diarists and more obscure ones, and often the voices echoing down the centuries sound eerily familiar today.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Feminism, Womens, Short Stories, Diary

528 pages, Hardcover

First published February 27, 2024

About the author

Sarah Gristwood attended Oxford and then worked as a journalist specializing in the arts and women's issues. She has contributed to The Times, Guardian, Independent, and Evening Standard.

Reviews

[Clare Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF but read random parts from all throughout the book. So many inspirational women.
Some read diary entries were wonderful, some were strange. Some were too old and dated, some were just right. I will probably borrow this book again one day and read some more. Thank you for the recommendation my friend, it is great to read new and different genres.

[Franki]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...

[Sophie]

I started my 2025 by reading this. I am planning on reading it every day until the very end of it and this year.

So the next update will be on 31/12/2025.

[Rieke Dijt · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading these entries throughout the year! Will definitely revisit.

[Vivienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of this book really appealed to me: I love diaries and here are snippets of diaries written by a range of women from all walks of life from the 1600s through to the 2000s. I also love both the depth of research required to compile this book and the historical aspect. Nonetheless, I found the shortness of the majority of these diary entries, and the leaping from one time and one voice to another, difficult to concentrate on and hard for the maintenance of focus.
Some of the individual entries (I especially enjoyed the more recent ones from the 20th and 21st centuries) were fascinating and heartfelt.
The other obvious characteristic of these diary entries is the focussing of womens' feelings throughout the ages on similar aspects of life: husbands and boyfriends, children, child birth, loneliness, independence . . .
Had these diary entries been more sustained, I would have loved them. As they are, a laboured read and just **

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this collection. This is such a unique compilation from a wide variety of diaries that makes reading very immersive. There are obviously limits, most glaringly the diaries either had to be originally in English or have a professional translation published, so the demographics of women featured weren’t exactly global, but I feel like it was a good variety nonetheless. Some of entries become harrowing as you go, and makes the whole thing feel very real and personal to YOU. Anne Frank’s diary entries stop at 1944. Sophia Tolstaya loves, fights with, and then loses her husband in a matter of months. Louisa May Alcott documents the decline and loss of her sister. Anne Morrow Lindbergh gives birth to, loses, and grieves her baby in a highly public spectacle. Queen Victoria ascends to the throne, falls in love, and loses her husband. There are so many deeply personal stories woven into this great tapestry.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I’ve ever taken a full year to read a book, but this is absolutely the book for it! Every day shares a selection of diary entries from a fantastic range of female diarists spanning the centuries, from across the globe and from diverse walks of life. Some days were funny, some tender, some focused on events that had a global impact and others full of life’s tedium. It is an easy book to just dip in and out of, but I loved reading the entries throughout the year on the day they were written.

Such a fantastic gift from my son and daughter in law, and would be fabulous for history-lovers, journalers or those who’d love to peep at other people’s diaries!

[Niniane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and essential work! I loved the concept: a whole year told through segments of different women's diaries. I liked that it covered a variety of profiles and experiences. Providing biographies of each diarist at the end was a real plus as it helped put everything into context.

The entries covered many timeless feelings, love, independence, artistic creation, but also love and creation (Sophia Tolstoy's diary made me want to rescue her, ngl).

This isn't something you will read in one go, though. I recommend regular breaks, otherwise it will feel repetitive or disjointed.

[Anne Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Sarah Gristwood has crafted a collection of diaries from women from the 17th century to the 21st, from around the world, showing that the struggles that women face in life are both timeless and universal. Particularly touching are Anne Frank’s appearance as a teenager full of life, unaware of her future, and Lady Bird Johnson, who was an incredible writer. There is something here for everyone, though. A lovely book.

[Ira Hakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Like actually brilliant - and a really novel idea. I even had the joy of meeting Sarah at a book festival and learning about the huge process behind finding all the entries and consolidating them into this book. I find the book a way of holding hands and sharing minds across time itself, with women tens, hundreds and thousands of years before me. Comforting and creative, the sort of compilation you dip into.

[Rachael Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing collection of women diary entries, dating from early 1600’s to 2000’s. Sarah Gristwood did an excellent job editing. I’ve loved the entries she chose. I’ve cried, laughed out loud and was so touched by hearing these women’s voices.
I chose to read them daily and absolutely loved today’s entries of strength, courage, hope and laughter.
Sarah Gristwood, thank you for choosing Oona King’s entry for December 31. 😂❤️

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book but just didn't. Some of the entries were really interesting, but some I just didn't know why they'd been selected or why I should be interested in them.

Also on a formatting note (I read the kindle version) I found it annoying to have the author and date placed at the end of each entry, so reading the text "blind" with no context, until the end. Also, not sure I liked having multiple entries for each day.

[Nicola Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love reading diaries, memoirs and journals so this was a dream book for me. Did my best not to rush through it as I didn't want to finish it. And struggled to resist ordering all the diaries used - though I only resisted after buying three: Helen Garner, Dorothy Wordsworth and Dawn Powell! I will be adding more to that list!

[Lorena Porto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the entries for each day of the year throughout 2025 and it has been a wonderful experience. Though the miscellany might seem too eccentric at first sight, there is a certain thread that weaves itself if you think of the variety of women's voices through the centuries as a unique personality growing and achieving its maturity and also a consciousness of decline.

[Kexx · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know the format works if read as a book, rather than dip in. There are a certain number of deaths, births, miscarriages, child deaths that I can take and that measure was used up by June. Ended by reading those who interested me and any date which was during my life time. Love the concept, but like a multi-cast concert, I wanted more from some and none from others.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of a variety of diaries, from famous names such as Queen Victoria,to authors and unknown figures. Of particular interest for researchers of grief,memory or diary keeping, or those interested in social history.

[Samantha]

Recommended by Ruby Granger

[Mia Caven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words except for, this was beautiful.

[Siyun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished 20%.

[Avery Zimmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED!!

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great taster of diaries throughout the ages and nationalities, known figures and women/girls you wouldn't have heard of.

[Hanna Svenhag · Rating 1 out of 5]

Loved the concept, but couldn’t get myself to finish it