The Most Maligned Women in History by Samantha Morris tells the story of some of history’s most vilified women. But, Morris poses, were they truly all that bad?

You’ll find discussions of Marie Antoinette, Elizabeth Bathory, Dowager Empress Cixi, and others. Many believe Marie Antoinette said, “let them eat cake” when told the peasants were starving. In reality, this quote was more than likely said long after the infamous queen had been executed. Cixi was seen as ruthless, yet her reign brought peace and prosperity with it as well. With Bathory, there is definitive proof to the accusations flung at her name. No one knows the truth of whether she bathed in the blood of innocent young women. It possible she was no more than a victim of rumors of her time.

I recommend this book for fans of women’s history, however Morris does not really deep dive into the history of these women. If you are looking for more information about their lives besides a glazing over of the points that contribute to their reputations, you won’t find it here. Still this is a quick, worthwhile read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the advanced reader copy.

I was excited for this book. It's not like I was expecting a full on academic paper or lit review for every "maligned" woman in history. But I was expecting more depth into an individual's life, and maybe more women than just the common ones we hear about from buzzfeed articles. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just seems a little superficial (and pale) to not delve a little deeper in the the long history of women, from every corner of the globe, being overlooked.
The writing leaves much to be desired, this just seems so casual. Parts of it sound like it was written for a middleschool paper and others are clearly AI.
I thought perhaps there would be a story, to showcase each women's history in detail, or at least specific asepcts, but no. It's just word vomit of hearsay and occasional facts, in a very childish fashion, about women we already know, and nothing new (at least as far as I can tell). I don't see the point in why the books exists.
Theres also no explaining as to why these specific women were chosen as the "most maligned women", or a discussion about why the were "maligned". There's no thought about what these women being sidelined could mean or why it might have happened. And there's very little on where this information came from and whether or not we can trust the sources.
Some chapters were better written than others, and actually held my attention, although only briefly.
But overall I'm still deeply disappointed by this book.

4 Stars

Big thanks to the author and publisher for sending me this ARC.

This book isn’t super long, but it’s packed with cool stories about historical women like Joan of Arc, Marie Antoinette, Anne Boleyn, and more. Every time I read about someone, I couldn’t resist googling their pictures, castles, or the names that popped up, it really brought the stories to life! I did spot a couple of name errors, but it wasn’t a big deal, probably just because it’s an advance copy. I assume those will be corrected in the final version.

Overall, I had a great time reading it and learned a lot. Definitely worth checking out!

Concisely told short bios of notorious women - what’s not to like? Morris manages to escape the trap of other, similar books - she never maligns other women while apologizing for her main subject. A fun book for people (like me!) who enjoy this sort of thing.

I LOVED THIS.

The selection of women here is *chef's kiss* and the writing style is simply phenomenal.
I couldn't put this down!!

Plus I learned quite a lot.

thank you to netgalley, samantha morris and pen & sword for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
i really enjoyed this book. it was an interesting compilation of several stories of maligned women in history- as the title says. it is exactly what it states. the book explores a variety of larger than life women from marie antoinette to lizzie borden.
history is often written by men and the oppressors, this book brings up good questions and discusses the women with intrigue but a fair amount of fair skepticism- sharing each side fairly.
a good pick up for fans of feminist literature- and a great pick if you want to read something that isn’t intense or a long book on each woman. i enjoyed the photos at the end as well.

History is just a story, like any other. The women featured here have been maligned for centuries. Assuredly, all legends are rife with speculation and exaggeration. However, I feel like the author cuts them a little too much slack. One can tell the truth without being an apologist. However, this is a useful book for a social studies teacher to have on their shelf. It gives good information, without being overwhelming. It would be a super useful starting point for students researching any of the featured ladies. The bibliography would also be welcome for building research projects. A nice tool for teachers and high schoolers.

A fabulous collection of accounts of the lives and characters of some fascinating women across different times and places. The author writes with an appropriate dash of humour here and there to make the sometimes dark content easier to stick with and is always careful to include context so we can place the woman in the time in which she lived. The selected accounts are interesting in themselves - from royalty to accused murders, this is truly a diverse selection.

An interesting series of articles about infamous women in history. However, when information about a person isn’t available - such as with Empress Wu, the author repeats the sensationalized claims as facts. The author also doesn’t seem to have read any biographies of Empress Cixi.