Shakespeare's Sisters - Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance

In an innovative and engaging narrative of everyday life in Shakespeare's England, Ramie Targoff carries us from the sumptuous coronation of Queen Elizabeth in the mid-16th century into the private lives of four women writers working at a time when women were legally the property of men.

Some readers may have heard of Mary Sidney, poet and sister of the famous Sir Philip Sidney, but few will have heard of Aemilia Lanyer, the first woman in the 17th century to publish a book of original poetry, which offered a feminist take on the crucifixion, or Elizabeth Cary, who published the first original play by a woman, about the plight of the Jewish princess Mariam. Then there was Anne Clifford, a lifelong diarist, who fought for decades against a patriarchy that tried to rob her of her land in one of England's most infamous inheritance battles.

In uncovering the often forgotten or overlooked treasures left by these extraordinary women, Ramie Targoff helps us see the Renaissance in a fresh light, offering a much-needed female perspective on life in Shakespeare's day.

In her new book, Ramie Targoff has done something extraordinary — written a sterling work of feminist history that is never narrowly ideological nor loses sight of the particular lives and language of her heroines. We meet an extraordinary cast of unknown characters, and live more richly in a time we thought we knew” - Adam Gopnik