Women of Words: A Personal Introduction to Thirty-Five Important Writers

Against long odds, the thirty-five women featured in this anthology took charge of their creative destinies and created powerful, enduring works that captured the world's attention. Together they represent the best of women's literature in English from the last two centuries. Through biographies and original portraits, Women of Words reveals each writer as an author and as a woman. The lives of these writers are fascinating, easily as rich and eventful as the lives of the characters they created. Each writer also is represented by telling selections from her finest works. Here, Mary Wollstonecraft challenges the politics of her contemporaries; Doris Lessing probes the difficulties faced by working women; and Toni Morrison creates a memorable character with a unique view of what is most important in life.