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Yes She Can
Modern, punchy and fresh' Sunday Times'A positive and fascinating read' Stylist'A collection of unexpectedly revealing interviews with "mould-breaking women"... This optimistic volume also includes an intimate memoir from Davidson herself' GuardianThe woman who trains Indian special forces in armed and unarmed combat, the UK's most capped footballer, a dotcom millionaire, the BBC's first female political editor, a member of the Royal Household, an eminent forensic scientist, an Olympic gold-medallist, the prime minister... this book is for every daughter, every mother, every aunt and every niece, as seventeen of the world's mould-breaking women share the life lessons they've learned. Every single one of them has shown that yes, she can.Revealing, enthralling, informing, in YES SHE CAN Ruth Davidson weaves her own inspiring journey with these personal stories into a timely rallying call for generations to come.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 20, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 28, 2018
I told myself when I went into this I would leave my political persuasions out of this and I did, predominantly because this is a personal book about the women who inspired Ruth Davidson to become the strong, fearless leader of the Scottish Conservatives, rather than a book about politics per se. Although, of course, some of the book does touch on Conservative issues as you would expect in a title that charts the formative years of a current political leader. One of the aspects I find most inspirational about Davidson is her unapologetic stance on sexuality and disclosure of her own battles with hers.
As a believer in equality for all, I thought it was exceptional that those who Davidson chose to interview were, in particular, women in fields that are traditionally male-dominated, highlighting that everyone should "dare to be different" should they wish to. You have pioneering and intelligent women from all walks of life, all corners of the globe and all differing professions, each with their own story to tell.
This is a thought-provoking conversation starter, that has at its core principles of both feminism and equality, and Ruth's account of her own life comes across as authentic and heartfelt and is certainly an interesting read.
As a believer in equality for all, I thought it was exceptional that those who Davidson chose to interview were, in particular, women in fields that are traditionally male-dominated, highlighting that everyone should "dare to be different" should they wish to. You have pioneering and intelligent women from all walks of life, all corners of the globe and all differing professions, each with their own story to tell.
This is a thought-provoking conversation starter, that has at its core principles of both feminism and equality, and Ruth's account of her own life comes across as authentic and heartfelt and is certainly an interesting read.
June 9, 2019
Heart-breaking, optimistic and well-written. Some fantastic interviews with truly interesting people and plenty of revelations about her own life.
June 20, 2019
I rate Ruth Davidson as a person and a Conservative politician and in fact think she'd make a much better Prime Minister than the current sorry lot of men vying for the position. An interesting book but at first had thought it would be more of an autobiography. Instead it's a sort of anthology of stories of women who have achieved against the odds - some chapters more interesting rhan others. Shows what can be done by putting one's mind to it ... I found the format a bit disjointed but nonetheless interesting. Wondering how she chose her subjects. This one is right up your street, Laura !
August 17, 2019
A superficial skim of some loosely related topics. I found some of the voices brought together in this book interesting, but generally it felt a bit repetitive and ‘bitty.’ Maybe this was due to the long sections of quoted speech - but some of these seemed to just re tread old tired phrases & themes.
A couple of facts that piqued my interest were then abandoned & not explained or explored further: Melinda Gates: “When I was in college 37 per cent of computer-science grads were women; we’re down now to 18 per cent.” What happened there?? And, “The UN tracks 130 countries around the world to check how well progress is being achieved. Currently only two have achieved gender parity at all levels of education.” Which ones? How? The most compelling story was that told by Melinda Gates about providing women in Bangladesh with “voluntary family planning” & seeing how much more successful and healthy those families and villages became, compared to those who did not have the same access to contraceptives & associated education.
The ‘advice to 15 year olds’ at the end struck me as a bit deceptive as well - this is a small hand-picked group of extremely high achievers, who are spectacularly successful. Of course they’ll trot out the ‘you can do anything’ ‘Make your own path’ ‘the world is your oyster. Believe in yourself’ etc etc — All nice sentiments, and the encouragement is great, but ....the first 90% of the book just told me how these platitudes do not actually come true for most women around the world yet.
A couple of facts that piqued my interest were then abandoned & not explained or explored further: Melinda Gates: “When I was in college 37 per cent of computer-science grads were women; we’re down now to 18 per cent.” What happened there?? And, “The UN tracks 130 countries around the world to check how well progress is being achieved. Currently only two have achieved gender parity at all levels of education.” Which ones? How? The most compelling story was that told by Melinda Gates about providing women in Bangladesh with “voluntary family planning” & seeing how much more successful and healthy those families and villages became, compared to those who did not have the same access to contraceptives & associated education.
The ‘advice to 15 year olds’ at the end struck me as a bit deceptive as well - this is a small hand-picked group of extremely high achievers, who are spectacularly successful. Of course they’ll trot out the ‘you can do anything’ ‘Make your own path’ ‘the world is your oyster. Believe in yourself’ etc etc — All nice sentiments, and the encouragement is great, but ....the first 90% of the book just told me how these platitudes do not actually come true for most women around the world yet.
November 8, 2018
Love Ruth Davidson and her book didn't disappoint. I thought when I bought it that it was an autobiography but in fact its a collection of insights from various different successful, high profile women.
The one part if the book I felt was missing was an excerpt about how it's also fine for a women to be a Mum and not have a glittering career. Davidson envisages a world where all industries and jobs are a 50/50 split of men and women and this opinion divided me. That doesn't leave a lot of room for those women who prioritise being mothers over having a 'career' and I'm worried that we're setting ourselves up to feel like failures if we don't become a super powerful business women.
Anyway, in general the book is fab and left me feeling inspired and empowered.
The one part if the book I felt was missing was an excerpt about how it's also fine for a women to be a Mum and not have a glittering career. Davidson envisages a world where all industries and jobs are a 50/50 split of men and women and this opinion divided me. That doesn't leave a lot of room for those women who prioritise being mothers over having a 'career' and I'm worried that we're setting ourselves up to feel like failures if we don't become a super powerful business women.
Anyway, in general the book is fab and left me feeling inspired and empowered.
July 28, 2021
More of a personal memoir than I’d expected. I feel like it needed more editing before it was released: some parts were very repetitive and told you something that had been said previously.
I also feel that there wasn’t enough/any reflection on the intersectionality of feminism and the idea that BIPOC woman are having to fight even harder than white women for their voice to be heard. There were some BIPOC women spoken to in the book but as Davidson directly referenced her, why wasn’t Diane Abbott included? When Davidson mentioned Abbott, why didn’t she tie Abbott’s issues with misogynistic men into the fact that this is made even worse by the racism that she faces from these men?
A surface level discussion on the women’s rights movement.
I also feel that there wasn’t enough/any reflection on the intersectionality of feminism and the idea that BIPOC woman are having to fight even harder than white women for their voice to be heard. There were some BIPOC women spoken to in the book but as Davidson directly referenced her, why wasn’t Diane Abbott included? When Davidson mentioned Abbott, why didn’t she tie Abbott’s issues with misogynistic men into the fact that this is made even worse by the racism that she faces from these men?
A surface level discussion on the women’s rights movement.
November 29, 2018
This is an excellent read. Well written and informative. She has taken the experiences of a number of high profile ladies to craft a bang up to the minute look at the changing role and opportunities for women in the world. Sandi Toksvig's experience as a parent stunned me as did the hateful social media attacks on her and Laura from the Beeb. A good Christmas present for daughters, nieces and sons who need educating.
February 10, 2019
This book is about showcasing strong women who've got to the top, the hurdles they've overcome and what is still left to be done. I admire what Ruth Davidson has achieved, she's strong and a good egg. Even if you don't agree with her politics, i'd recommend this if you're interested in Women's rights and feminism.
May 26, 2019
This wasnt what I'd hoped it would be. It had really interesting accounts from famous and successful women on a variety of subjects but I found the flow of the book and topics jarring. Definitely worth a read though.
January 7, 2019
Amazing book filled with completely inspiring women. Well worth the read and the perfect motivation for January.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2019
I don’t often read non-fiction books but I found this book incredibly interesting and inspiring. I love the layout and hearing all the different stories from some very strong women.
June 5, 2019
Brilliant book - just brilliant! A book which definitely should be read by every women to how just how powerful we can be when we have a voice
August 30, 2019
Brilliant
A thought provoking and positive look at what women have and achieve .
An easy and enjoyable read that is nver preachy.
A thought provoking and positive look at what women have and achieve .
An easy and enjoyable read that is nver preachy.
June 3, 2022
Engaging book about interesting women
February 27, 2019
This book is really two books, and I enjoyed them both, but I’d rather have read them separately. One is the story of Ruth Davidson’s life, the challenges she’s faced, decisions she’s made and lessons she’s learned. The other is a group of short interviews with accomplished women, loosely arranged around themes. Both are interesting and inspiring, but they don’t hang together especially well.
I’d have liked to have read more about Ruth Davidson’s own story. When she’s writing about her life and beliefs, she’s convincing and engaging, with an enjoyably gung-ho tone. When she writes about the issues the women she interviews are dealing with, her voice is a little more subdued. I’d also have liked to see some interaction between Ruth and her interviewees: instead, their reflections are presented as mini-essays, without any probing or comment from the author.
This was a good book and I’m glad I read it. I just wish it had been structured differently.
I’d have liked to have read more about Ruth Davidson’s own story. When she’s writing about her life and beliefs, she’s convincing and engaging, with an enjoyably gung-ho tone. When she writes about the issues the women she interviews are dealing with, her voice is a little more subdued. I’d also have liked to see some interaction between Ruth and her interviewees: instead, their reflections are presented as mini-essays, without any probing or comment from the author.
This was a good book and I’m glad I read it. I just wish it had been structured differently.
September 10, 2019
More 2.5 - there are some really inspiring women’s stories in here, and I liked the section on ‘advice to my fifteen year old ‘. My disappointments were that this was very focused on capitalist and corporation based successful women (though hardly a surprise!); it was scattered in approach and repetitive; and when Ruth talked about her decision (absolutely fine I’m not questioning her right to do this at all) to stop antidepressants overnight she implied that those taking antidepressants are not fully in touch with reality - before anyone jumps on me for this, I do understand that’s not what she meant to do, and that she tries to qualify it later - but sadly I still feel the way this has been written, that’s what she does. Unfortunate if a fifteen year old young woman is reading this, IMO.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews