Brenda Knight: Women Who Love Books Too Much

Aaconari Press

$47

A popular-format dictionary of biography of female writers from the earliest times up to the present.

Knight is a scholar of medieval literature and of modern poetry, so her tastes are reflected with fascinating biographical sketches of women whose names have been all but forgotten but who were pioneers of women's writing.

In seven chapters Knight includes those earliest writers; women who come from literary dynasties where writing seems to be encoded in their DNA (the Brontes, for instance); mystical writers; dissident writers such as the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova; prolific writers such as Barbara Cartland; the women of the salons (such as Gertrude Stein); and the women whose books are loved too much who occupy a special place in our hearts, for instance Jane Austen and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

A delightful selection that will titillate your interest, jog your memory, tug at your heart strings and leave you wanting to read more.