Score

Great summer reads

Jessica: Does "famous" refer only/primarily to the respective persons' own lifetime, or does it also include the wives of persons who only acquired fame posthumously?

Also: Wouldn't "women waiting in the wings of history" imply that the women in question were/are NOT well-known themselves? On that basis, I'd question the inclusion of books about Anne Boleyn: She was the woman over whom Henry VIII broke with Rome, risked war with France and the Spanish/German empire, and threw his own country into a turmoil from which it took the better part of a century to recover. There were probably few people who did not know Anne Boleyn's name even during her own lifetime; she was maligned as "the Great Wh*re" throughout England and virtually all of continental Europe. Whether or not we agree with that assessment from today's point of view (I personally do not), there can be no question that she herself was one of the most notorious persons of her own era, and quite possibly even more famous than her husband, Henry VIII.

A similar, though not quite as strong case might be made for two of Henry VIII's other wives (Anne's rival Katherine of Aragon and her cousin, Catherine Howard).

From the list description, I would have thought that books about women who (for whatever reason) have attained some level of fame or notoriety themselves would not qualify. But it's your list, of course -- could you give us a few more clues what you are looking for?

That said: Great list! :)

I do agree about Anne Boleyn so I deleted my votes as she was very famous. I was wondering about adding Princess Diana but then she became more famous than Charles. What about Sex with Kings? There are some very famous women there too.

Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge

The problem with MOST women of whom we're even aware to a marginal degree, that lived in an age prior to our own, is that we know about them precisely BECAUSE they were well-known or notorious, for some reason or other. Women had, as such, no visible place in society (very much to the contrary); and if their husband was famous or an important person, even less so -- because then they were even more expected to stand back, take second/third/fourth place, forego their own life expectations and sacrifice their own entire lives to supporting "the Great Man."

So obviously, yes, we know about all those royal courtesans also because they defied social norms and used their beauty and bodies for their own advancement -- which in turn means they certainly were NOT willing to "wait on the sidelines of history" (very much to the contrary, in fact -- many of them were arguably as crucial to their royal lovers' reign as were those rulers' ministers and advisors).

By the same token, those women who actually did what society expected them to do -- stand back and sacrifice themselves to supporting their husbands -- mostly end up not getting noticed at all ... and consequently, they're also not made the subject of a book!

Themis-Athena wrote: "The problem with MOST women of whom we're even aware to a marginal degree, that lived in an age prior to our own, is that we know about them precisely BECAUSE they were well-known or notorious, for..."

I often see a bumper sticker here about this fact which says: "Well behaved women rarely make history."
so true!

:)

Which is why this list is such a good idea ... and so hard to find books for!

I don't understand why such women were "waiting in the wings of history." Waiting for what? To be recognized and known? To be recognized and known as themselves in their own right? Or as some famous man's wife? Seems more accurate to say they were "in the wings," but waiting implies something else.

It does seem like Lily Koppel's emphasis is on the unknown women, not your Anne Boleyns, your Princess Di's, your Courtney Loves, your Hillary Rodham Clintons.

"Waiting" for women no longer to be banned to the sidelines? (That's what I thought when I read the word.) Not in the sense that they were waiting for an event/development occurring in their own lifetimes -- though they may have wished for it -- but, rather, as individual examples of Women (in general) waiting to be able to step into the limelight. Which, as you're bound to observe, wasn't going to happen as long as they were just waiting for men to permit it (which is, in turn, why women kept waiting and waiting, until and unless they took things into their own hands) ...

Does anyone else think that this list implies that these women were not famous in their own right? Or that their fame only came contribution to history was getting married to a famous man? Because if that is the list that people are looking to make, you will have to take at the very least half of these women off the list.