Book Review: The Genius of Women by Janice Kaplan

The title was recommended to me by the publisher and I am so glad it was! I thoroughly enjoyed it and found the tales of genius women to be interesting, inspiring, and depressing in equal measure - the latter because of the way these women were overlooked for so long…

The writing is a mix of stories and arguments about the rationale behind the way society ignores genius women. As a result, the style is a mixture of engaging narrative descriptions of the individual women, and argumentative and pointed political conversation when it comes to the author’s position on the whys and wherefores behind the biases these women face(d) in their lives. It was at times a jarring blend, but I think both styles worked for the type of writing they incorporated.

Frankly I would have enjoyed more women’s stories and slightly less of the political arguments, as after a while those did start to feel somewhat repetitive. Still the need for such repetition on a general level is not lost on me - the behaviors that lead to the deliberate as well as unintentional slights these (and similarly situated) women face(d) continues to the present day, unfortunately, so I understand the author’s interest in driving her points home. Perhaps one day such repetition won’t be necessary, but I fear that day is still some ways off in the future…

This was, on the whole, a fascinating look into the lives of a group of amazing women - and an excellent exegesis on the importance of ensuring that future generations don’t face the same types of challenges in promoting their own genius. It is definitely worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.