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Starry and Restless: Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and the World
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The page-turning story of three women reporters and the way they changed the world, work, and journalism.
She hid on a Red Cross boat to reach Omaha Beach on D-Day. She walked the abandoned streets of Hong Kong to take food to her daughter’s father, a prisoner of war. She fought off the advances of overzealous Yugoslavian diplomats, found overlooked details of world history in a dentist’s kitchen in Sarajevo. She traveled alone to Mexico. She traveled alone to Congo. She traveled alone to the American South. She married Hemingway. She married a Chinese poet-playboy-publisher, then married a British war hero. She fell in love with H. G. Wells. She gave birth and raised a child on her own. She landed on the front page of the newspaper. She wrote for the great magazines of her time—Vogue, The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar. She wrote a play. She wrote a memoir. She wrote a genre-breaking travel narrative. She wrote bestsellers. She wrote and wrote and wrote. She changed the very way we think about writing and the way journalists craft stories—which sources are viable, which details are important—and the way women move and work in the world.
She was Martha Gellhorn. She was Emily “Mickey” Hahn. She was Rebecca West. Each woman was starry-eyed for success, for adventure, and helped ensure that other starry and restless women could make unforgettable lives for themselves. They fought for their lives and their work. They were praised and criticized for it all.
In language as lively and nimble, in passages as intimate and adventurous, and with conviction as fierce and indefatigable as her subjects’ own, Julia Cooke’s Starry and Restless plays out the stories of three women across three decades and five continents. Martha, Mickey, Rebecca—journalists, authors, mothers, lovers, friends. These women didn’t just bear witness to the great changes of the twentieth century; their curiosity, grit, ambition, and stories changed the world.
She hid on a Red Cross boat to reach Omaha Beach on D-Day. She walked the abandoned streets of Hong Kong to take food to her daughter’s father, a prisoner of war. She fought off the advances of overzealous Yugoslavian diplomats, found overlooked details of world history in a dentist’s kitchen in Sarajevo. She traveled alone to Mexico. She traveled alone to Congo. She traveled alone to the American South. She married Hemingway. She married a Chinese poet-playboy-publisher, then married a British war hero. She fell in love with H. G. Wells. She gave birth and raised a child on her own. She landed on the front page of the newspaper. She wrote for the great magazines of her time—Vogue, The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar. She wrote a play. She wrote a memoir. She wrote a genre-breaking travel narrative. She wrote bestsellers. She wrote and wrote and wrote. She changed the very way we think about writing and the way journalists craft stories—which sources are viable, which details are important—and the way women move and work in the world.
She was Martha Gellhorn. She was Emily “Mickey” Hahn. She was Rebecca West. Each woman was starry-eyed for success, for adventure, and helped ensure that other starry and restless women could make unforgettable lives for themselves. They fought for their lives and their work. They were praised and criticized for it all.
In language as lively and nimble, in passages as intimate and adventurous, and with conviction as fierce and indefatigable as her subjects’ own, Julia Cooke’s Starry and Restless plays out the stories of three women across three decades and five continents. Martha, Mickey, Rebecca—journalists, authors, mothers, lovers, friends. These women didn’t just bear witness to the great changes of the twentieth century; their curiosity, grit, ambition, and stories changed the world.
448 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication February 24, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Julia Cooke, Starry and Restless Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and the World, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, February 2026.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
I read Julia Cooke’s Come Fly the World and was thoroughly engaged. Starry and Restless Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and the World is even more impressive. This book stands out for its valuable insights and compelling storytelling about three remarkable women. It is one of the most valuable and engrossing books on my bookshelf; an engaging work to return to frequently; a story written by yet another amazing woman who has, with this work, brought together feminist understanding, dedication to thoughtful detail of the worlds in which Rebecca West, Martha Gellhorn and Mickey (Emily) Hahn worked, developed loving and complex relationships with women and men, became parents, and came to grips with their own feelings, faults, virtues and challenges.
The book is in four parts; Stranger Even to Myself; The Urgency of Geography; Never Do Your Own Housework; and The Most Powerful Magic I Knew. Each woman features in all the sections, with their location and the year providing the framework. In 1936-37 Rebecca West is in Yugoslavia; Mickey Hahn on her way to China; and Martha Gellhorn in Spain. The narrative spans the years from this period through the 1940s to the early 1950s and locations as varied as China, Cuba, England, Hong Kong, New York, Italy, Germany, the United States, Mexico, Taiwan and South Africa. The woman journalist is introduced after a prologue featuring Mickey Hahn on a journey to the Belgian Congo, a gun wrapped in a silk blouse.
In the introduction we learn that Rebecca West has been refused work on a London newspaper in 1911, because women were seen as unsuited to such work. A background to women’s journalism follows until, in 1930 Martha Gellhorn is introduced on her way to becoming a foreign correspondent. Further background and Mickey Hahn reappears – time and necessity have promoted her: journalism is now work that can be undertaken by women - but under special and sexist conditions. Other journalists are referred to, but Cooke keep her focus on Hahn, West and Gellhorn without losing her deftness in interweaving history, the work of a journalist, the way in which each woman addressed the challenges of work, personal and domestic environments, unwanted publicity just because they were women and their many achievements.
Cooke questions understandings of the introduction of particular journalistic features in the 1960s and 1970s – adeptly recognising a history that like so much of women’s history is forgotten, with those being regarded as the first, in reality following in the intrepid footsteps of women before her. This is no criticism of the newly revered, but an essential contribution to writing women’s history. Similarly, Cooke’s narrative resonates with truth telling; the women do not escape stories that might inspire criticism, but neither are they portrayed as other than capable, strong writers of authority, wit and talent.
The Afterword is a joy to read with Cooke’s lyrical style highlighting her dedication to telling Rebecca West’s, Martha Gellhorn’s and Mickey Hahn’s stories truthfully and with dedicated care. She enjoins once again with the broader context of the journalistic and writing world in which they starred. Here she frames her arguments about the history of journalism in ways that are all too familiar with women who seek to tell the real stories, those that include women, and often should star them. Of interest to this Australian reviewer is her reference to the Australian Dale Spender and her work in demonstrating the importance recognising that the women’s movement is not one that disappeared – there was always a women’s movement in the twentieth century.
Starry and Restless Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and the World is a wonderful read which is followed by notes that are well worth reading for the additional information that can be gleaned, recommended reading – another good source, and an index.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
I read Julia Cooke’s Come Fly the World and was thoroughly engaged. Starry and Restless Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and the World is even more impressive. This book stands out for its valuable insights and compelling storytelling about three remarkable women. It is one of the most valuable and engrossing books on my bookshelf; an engaging work to return to frequently; a story written by yet another amazing woman who has, with this work, brought together feminist understanding, dedication to thoughtful detail of the worlds in which Rebecca West, Martha Gellhorn and Mickey (Emily) Hahn worked, developed loving and complex relationships with women and men, became parents, and came to grips with their own feelings, faults, virtues and challenges.
The book is in four parts; Stranger Even to Myself; The Urgency of Geography; Never Do Your Own Housework; and The Most Powerful Magic I Knew. Each woman features in all the sections, with their location and the year providing the framework. In 1936-37 Rebecca West is in Yugoslavia; Mickey Hahn on her way to China; and Martha Gellhorn in Spain. The narrative spans the years from this period through the 1940s to the early 1950s and locations as varied as China, Cuba, England, Hong Kong, New York, Italy, Germany, the United States, Mexico, Taiwan and South Africa. The woman journalist is introduced after a prologue featuring Mickey Hahn on a journey to the Belgian Congo, a gun wrapped in a silk blouse.
In the introduction we learn that Rebecca West has been refused work on a London newspaper in 1911, because women were seen as unsuited to such work. A background to women’s journalism follows until, in 1930 Martha Gellhorn is introduced on her way to becoming a foreign correspondent. Further background and Mickey Hahn reappears – time and necessity have promoted her: journalism is now work that can be undertaken by women - but under special and sexist conditions. Other journalists are referred to, but Cooke keep her focus on Hahn, West and Gellhorn without losing her deftness in interweaving history, the work of a journalist, the way in which each woman addressed the challenges of work, personal and domestic environments, unwanted publicity just because they were women and their many achievements.
Cooke questions understandings of the introduction of particular journalistic features in the 1960s and 1970s – adeptly recognising a history that like so much of women’s history is forgotten, with those being regarded as the first, in reality following in the intrepid footsteps of women before her. This is no criticism of the newly revered, but an essential contribution to writing women’s history. Similarly, Cooke’s narrative resonates with truth telling; the women do not escape stories that might inspire criticism, but neither are they portrayed as other than capable, strong writers of authority, wit and talent.
The Afterword is a joy to read with Cooke’s lyrical style highlighting her dedication to telling Rebecca West’s, Martha Gellhorn’s and Mickey Hahn’s stories truthfully and with dedicated care. She enjoins once again with the broader context of the journalistic and writing world in which they starred. Here she frames her arguments about the history of journalism in ways that are all too familiar with women who seek to tell the real stories, those that include women, and often should star them. Of interest to this Australian reviewer is her reference to the Australian Dale Spender and her work in demonstrating the importance recognising that the women’s movement is not one that disappeared – there was always a women’s movement in the twentieth century.
Starry and Restless Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and the World is a wonderful read which is followed by notes that are well worth reading for the additional information that can be gleaned, recommended reading – another good source, and an index.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Julia Cooke’s latest book, tantalizingly titled Starry and Restless, is about the place of women in society and American journalism since the late 1800s and how it transformed during the war years. It is told through the lives of three journalists who blazed past a slew of reductive and gendered monickers at a critical juncture in American journalism to forge starry careers: Rebecca West, Emily (Mickey) Hahn, and Martha Gellhorn.
The trio was among the frontrunners of a new era of literary journalism when the world was on the brink of collapse. It was a time when gender roles were being questioned, and journalism was being redefined. They were among the few and the first to step into the future, shoving past a deeply gendered world. They were guided by itchy feet, a disdain for domesticity—though they all eventually succumbed to a version of it, and a love for the word and the world. Society was too small to contain these restless women; only the entire world would do.
Nested in the narrative are also accounts of Dorothy Thompson, Virginia Cowles, and the founding and the rise of The New Yorker, which was as instrumental in shaping the careers of these journalists as they were in shaping the fledgling magazine and what it came to stand for.
Nonconformists, West, Gellhorn, and Hahn thought for themselves, possessed their own style, and reveled in their individualism. They were known for their distinctive styles of writing that inspired and defined the emerging journalism. As war correspondents, they reported for newspapers and magazines. They also penned many books. Before Truman Capote and Joan Didion, there was West. Before Bruce Chatwin, creating her very own signature style of writing, was Hahn.
Their flings and relationships were as delectable as their writing, and their relationship with motherhood was contentious. They reported from the frontlines, where women were not allowed until the later years of the war, when there was some lenience. Their lives, as they continent hopped, overlapped with a common acquaintance orchestrating meetings among these women.
Cooke introduces the reader to West in Yugoslavia; Mickey, first in Congo and then Shanghai; and Gellhorn in Spain, where they are traveling solo as women.
West, Gellhorn, and Hahn were free spirits, unfettered by traditional roles; they make for captivating subjects. As is the case with women who swim upstream, they rarely belonged to groups or sisterhoods, though they mingled with high-profile individuals and formed lifelong friendships with select women.
While the premise of the book—three women in American journalism as it evolved—is strong, the organization of the book disrupts the narrative flow. Cooke’s choice of journalists is an exciting one, but, at times, their career paths, attitudes, and lifestyles are too similar to tell them apart.
This is not Cooke’s first foray into writing about iconic women in history who vaulted over traditional constraints. Her previous book was Come Fly the World: The Women of Pan Am at War and Peace. Similar to its predecessor, Starry and Restless is a well-researched and comprehensive multibiography, this time starring West, Hahn, and Gellhorn, three enduring names in American literary journalism.
The trio was among the frontrunners of a new era of literary journalism when the world was on the brink of collapse. It was a time when gender roles were being questioned, and journalism was being redefined. They were among the few and the first to step into the future, shoving past a deeply gendered world. They were guided by itchy feet, a disdain for domesticity—though they all eventually succumbed to a version of it, and a love for the word and the world. Society was too small to contain these restless women; only the entire world would do.
Nested in the narrative are also accounts of Dorothy Thompson, Virginia Cowles, and the founding and the rise of The New Yorker, which was as instrumental in shaping the careers of these journalists as they were in shaping the fledgling magazine and what it came to stand for.
Nonconformists, West, Gellhorn, and Hahn thought for themselves, possessed their own style, and reveled in their individualism. They were known for their distinctive styles of writing that inspired and defined the emerging journalism. As war correspondents, they reported for newspapers and magazines. They also penned many books. Before Truman Capote and Joan Didion, there was West. Before Bruce Chatwin, creating her very own signature style of writing, was Hahn.
Their flings and relationships were as delectable as their writing, and their relationship with motherhood was contentious. They reported from the frontlines, where women were not allowed until the later years of the war, when there was some lenience. Their lives, as they continent hopped, overlapped with a common acquaintance orchestrating meetings among these women.
Cooke introduces the reader to West in Yugoslavia; Mickey, first in Congo and then Shanghai; and Gellhorn in Spain, where they are traveling solo as women.
West, Gellhorn, and Hahn were free spirits, unfettered by traditional roles; they make for captivating subjects. As is the case with women who swim upstream, they rarely belonged to groups or sisterhoods, though they mingled with high-profile individuals and formed lifelong friendships with select women.
While the premise of the book—three women in American journalism as it evolved—is strong, the organization of the book disrupts the narrative flow. Cooke’s choice of journalists is an exciting one, but, at times, their career paths, attitudes, and lifestyles are too similar to tell them apart.
This is not Cooke’s first foray into writing about iconic women in history who vaulted over traditional constraints. Her previous book was Come Fly the World: The Women of Pan Am at War and Peace. Similar to its predecessor, Starry and Restless is a well-researched and comprehensive multibiography, this time starring West, Hahn, and Gellhorn, three enduring names in American literary journalism.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The problem with triple biographies is that you always run the risk of one subject overshadowing the other two. In Julia Cooke's Starry and Restless, Emily "Mickey" Hahn is a tough act to follow. Cooke tells the story of Hahn, Martha Gellhorn, and Rebecca West. Each of them is a somewhat forgotten female writers of the early to mid 20th century. There is certainly plenty for Cooke to cover, and she is mostly successful in providing the reader a real page turner.
The strengths of the book are considerable. Each one of these women led an interesting life to say the least. There is certainly a feminist angle to the narrative (for better and worse) which makes sense in a lot of ways. I believe Gellhorn is mostly remembered via her relationship with Ernest Hemingway. (Reminder: Great writer, not a great significant other.) I was completely unfamiliar with Hahn and West. Cooke is a talented writer who has a sixth sense for excellent word choice. Her prose can border on poetry at certain points, and it is a great advantage while juggling three lives.
The narrative is not perfect, however. There is the aforementioned issue of Hahn just being more interesting in my opinion. It's not that West and Gellhorn are not worth attention. It's just that Hahn jumps off the page. I often found myself waiting for the story to get back to her whenever she disappears. This leads to the second issue which is that Cooke probably needed a much larger page count. She recounts these women's lives, but it feels like she can't really dig into who they were. It felt often like Cooke had to tell you who these women were to move the narrative along instead of showing the reader who they are. She will also villainize other characters with a quick putdown without explaining why. My final criticism would be that Cooke fell in love with her subjects too much. She crosses the line at times from admiration to hero worship. There are multiple times where any neutral author should admit the women acted horribly and with little attention to how their actions hurt other people.
Overall, the negatives are far outweighed by the positives. This book has a lot to like and is definitely worth your time.
(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by FSG Books.)
The strengths of the book are considerable. Each one of these women led an interesting life to say the least. There is certainly a feminist angle to the narrative (for better and worse) which makes sense in a lot of ways. I believe Gellhorn is mostly remembered via her relationship with Ernest Hemingway. (Reminder: Great writer, not a great significant other.) I was completely unfamiliar with Hahn and West. Cooke is a talented writer who has a sixth sense for excellent word choice. Her prose can border on poetry at certain points, and it is a great advantage while juggling three lives.
The narrative is not perfect, however. There is the aforementioned issue of Hahn just being more interesting in my opinion. It's not that West and Gellhorn are not worth attention. It's just that Hahn jumps off the page. I often found myself waiting for the story to get back to her whenever she disappears. This leads to the second issue which is that Cooke probably needed a much larger page count. She recounts these women's lives, but it feels like she can't really dig into who they were. It felt often like Cooke had to tell you who these women were to move the narrative along instead of showing the reader who they are. She will also villainize other characters with a quick putdown without explaining why. My final criticism would be that Cooke fell in love with her subjects too much. She crosses the line at times from admiration to hero worship. There are multiple times where any neutral author should admit the women acted horribly and with little attention to how their actions hurt other people.
Overall, the negatives are far outweighed by the positives. This book has a lot to like and is definitely worth your time.
(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by FSG Books.)
November 28, 2025
3.5/5
This book aims to bring three celebrated reporters – Rebecca West, Emily ‘Mickey’ Hahn, and Martha Gellhorn – back into the spotlight. Admittedly, I had never heard of their names before, yet their grit and devotion to their work are unmatched, especially considering how women’s roles were heavily restricted from the public back then. The line between biographical and fictional narrative becomes blurred, eventually casting its charming spell, especially for those who are not a fan of historical nonfiction. Many facts and snippets of literary journalism can be found throughout the book, which interested me a great deal. However, I found that the story of Emily Hahn made the most impression on me, rather than those of the other two writers. It's not that the lives of West and Gellhorn are poorly written, but the timeline jumps are disjointed, and the writing is repetitive, unconnected, and harder to follow from one chapter to the next. Ironically, the inclusion of many well-known side characters in this book proves to be a double-edged sword: it dilutes the focus and occasionally goes off track. Their affair and marriage appeared somewhat narcissistic, with little acknowledgment of the perspectives of those affected by their actions. Although these women not endearing and are deeply flawed (also privileged in many ways), they are more admirable than many of their male companions. This book by Julia Cooke is full of life and deserves praises for reclaiming the contributions of these three fearless twentieth-century war journalists and underestimated writers.
Big thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
This book aims to bring three celebrated reporters – Rebecca West, Emily ‘Mickey’ Hahn, and Martha Gellhorn – back into the spotlight. Admittedly, I had never heard of their names before, yet their grit and devotion to their work are unmatched, especially considering how women’s roles were heavily restricted from the public back then. The line between biographical and fictional narrative becomes blurred, eventually casting its charming spell, especially for those who are not a fan of historical nonfiction. Many facts and snippets of literary journalism can be found throughout the book, which interested me a great deal. However, I found that the story of Emily Hahn made the most impression on me, rather than those of the other two writers. It's not that the lives of West and Gellhorn are poorly written, but the timeline jumps are disjointed, and the writing is repetitive, unconnected, and harder to follow from one chapter to the next. Ironically, the inclusion of many well-known side characters in this book proves to be a double-edged sword: it dilutes the focus and occasionally goes off track. Their affair and marriage appeared somewhat narcissistic, with little acknowledgment of the perspectives of those affected by their actions. Although these women not endearing and are deeply flawed (also privileged in many ways), they are more admirable than many of their male companions. This book by Julia Cooke is full of life and deserves praises for reclaiming the contributions of these three fearless twentieth-century war journalists and underestimated writers.
Big thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
January 31, 2026
Lengthy and well-researched biographies of three female reporters who traveled, wrote extensively, and bucked conventions. They pushed the boundaries of what was "acceptable" writing (and behavior!) from women of their generation.
Overall, I found the stories of the women's lives interesting, but I was frequently muddled about the subject, timeline, and their various husbands and partners. This could be the result of my listening to the audiobook. The narration is good, but the audio chapters were not digitally titled for easy reference in this advance copy.
What stood out: the women were frequently underpaid and underestimated. Their unconventional lifestyles made them the subject of gossip. But they were able to make a living back when few women correspondents were writing from the front lines about the human side of war and risking their lives to do so. Inspiring reading for anyone who is not sure if they can take on a challenge to do something unexpected.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #StarryandRestless for review purposes. Publication date: 24 February 2026.
Overall, I found the stories of the women's lives interesting, but I was frequently muddled about the subject, timeline, and their various husbands and partners. This could be the result of my listening to the audiobook. The narration is good, but the audio chapters were not digitally titled for easy reference in this advance copy.
What stood out: the women were frequently underpaid and underestimated. Their unconventional lifestyles made them the subject of gossip. But they were able to make a living back when few women correspondents were writing from the front lines about the human side of war and risking their lives to do so. Inspiring reading for anyone who is not sure if they can take on a challenge to do something unexpected.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #StarryandRestless for review purposes. Publication date: 24 February 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC.
This was a fascinating look into the lives of these reporters. It delves into how these women pushed against the boundaries in writing and societal expectations for them. This book follows their personal and work lives, which were very fascinating to learn about. I wasn't family with these women going into this book and was glad for the chance to get to know them. The narrator was also excellent and highly engaging to listen to.
This was a fascinating look into the lives of these reporters. It delves into how these women pushed against the boundaries in writing and societal expectations for them. This book follows their personal and work lives, which were very fascinating to learn about. I wasn't family with these women going into this book and was glad for the chance to get to know them. The narrator was also excellent and highly engaging to listen to.
August 28, 2025
A fascinating account of 3 journalists lives in the 20th century - female pioneers. Amazing accounts of the work they did and the restless adventures including the Spanish civil war and World War II. Amazing. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.
September 24, 2025
This was a neat book about three roughly contemporaneous women writers, all of whom I've never heard of before this but now want to see if their writing is still accessible, if only because it was genre foundational. These women, all international journalists who released their experiences of the news stories they told and how they experienced the world, all have pretty extraordinary lives on their own, but the ways they all intersected with each other are also fascinating.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews