Heroines: Great Women Through the Ages

by Rebecca Hazell

The lives of twelve women--including Joan of Arc, Sacagawea, Marie Curie, Madame Sun Yat-Sen, and Frida Kahlo--are portrayed in a collection of biographical portraits that draws on many cultures and time periods.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

79 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 1996

About the author

I have loved reading, writing and making art from age two, my first canvases for both being the hall walls. I've been writing for decades, both nonfiction and fiction. My nonfiction included educational materials for public schools, coloring books, and most recently collections of biographies of heroic people, but I have recently made the transition to writing historical fiction. I love bringing the past to life and connecting our present with our past. I have moved across the North American continent twice, among the almost 70 moves I have made. I have also visited Europe, Mexico, and the Antipodes.

My inspiration for how to write comes from Nobel Prizewinner Isaac Bashevis Singer, whose quote I found in a collection of short stories: The purpose of writing is to entertain and inform. I liked that because it reminds me that people want to broaden their world more than they want to shrink into themselves.

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick perusal to determine that there isn't really anything here for the tea woman project.

[Victoria Olivo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations were okay and the author often inserted her own opinion, but I did enjoy the read. My rating is more like 3.5 stars

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an impressive hardcover book to have on one's coffee table or in a prominent place on a shelf. The author/illustrator beautifully illustrated it.
Rebecca Hazell gathered interesting facts and information about twelve women throughout history who made great impact of change in our world. For each woman she included illustrations of them, maps when appropriate, and gave eleven women six pages and one woman five pages. At the back she has a whole page of recommended titles for further reading.

The great women she included in this volume are:
Agnodice - Greece, circa 450-300 BC
Lady Murasaki Shikibu - Japan, circa 978-circa 1015
Eleanor of Aquitaine - France, 1122-1204
Joan of Arc - France, circa 1412-1431
Queen Elizabeth I - England, 1533-1603
Sacajawea - North America, circa 1784-1884 (?)
Harriet Tubman - North America, circa 1821-1913
Marie Curie - Poland/France, 1867-1934
Anna Akhmatova - Russia, 1889-1966
Madame Sun Yat-Sen - China, circa 1893-1981
Amelia Earhart - North America, 1897-1937
Frida Kahlo Y Rivera - Mexico, 1907-1954

[Ubalstecha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short bios of famous women through out history. The problem is that some of these women's claim to being heroes is a little thin. I love Eleanor of Aquitaine as much as the average feminist, but her affairs and backstabbing ruthlessness is not exactly what I call a hero. The book does have background articles on life in the time of the women, which is beneficial for the young women who would be reading this book.

Other criticism I have of this book are the illustrations. While they are well done, they feel a bit dated, not like a book from the 1990s.