8 Incredible Books About Little-Known Women

In the early 20th century, working at a radium-dial factory was considered a coveted job for a woman. That is, until the workers began to fall mysteriously ill. By painting watch dials and hands with glow-in-the-dark radium, these women had unknowingly contracted radium poisoning.

Lengthy legal battles followed, as the “radium girls” fought to obtain justice against the companies that had destroyed their health. Their efforts to change workplace safety standards and the labor rights movement are described in this book with "a perfect blend of the historical, the scientific, and the personal” (Bustle).

A traumatic experience caused Elizabeth Packard (1816-1897) to become an advocate for change. Amid marital strife, she was wrongfully committed to an insane asylum for three years by her husband. 

After successfully winning her freedom back during a court case to decide the matter, Packard became an activist for women’s rights and freedom of speech. She traversed the nation on a decades-long reform campaign, helping to pass several laws in the process. This “veritable tour de force about how far women's rights have come and how far we still have to go” is a must-read (Booklist, starred review).

In 1799, Mary Nisbet married Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, who later became known for his controversial procurement (some might say theft) of the Elgin Marbles, marble statues from the Parthenon that he brought back to England. Scandalously, they divorced a few years later. While Mary remains best known for her relationships, this book sheds light on her far more fascinating deeds and accomplishments, such as bringing the smallpox vaccine to the Middle East and striking an unlikely deal with Napoleon.

Beate Sirota Gordon helped to draft the new postwar Japanese Constitution when she was just 22. A polyglot who was fluent in Japanese, Beate took it upon herself to insist on an unprecedented version that guaranteed the rights of Japanese women, and worked to persuade Japanese officials to accept the new document as the law of the land. This was just one episode in a remarkable life, as recalled in this “engaging, modest account…of a woman who made significant contributions to both Japanese and American cultures” (Publishers Weekly).

Generations of royal women were overshadowed by their kings and princes. This book puts the focus back on the women of the ruling families in order to share “bite-sized biographies” of noteworthy lives. From pirates to love potions and imprisonments, the amazing stories of 30 little-known women are highlighted here.

As the first Black female television journalist on the West coast, Belva Davis broke down career barriers and shattered expectations for what was possible. Throughout her long career, she witnessed many changes, from being the target of openly racist attacks while she was reporting on the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco to reporting on the historic election of President Barack Obama in 2008. 

She was on the frontlines of American history for major events, and brought an awareness of race and gender issues to her audience, winning eight Emmy Awards along the way. In this acclaimed memoir, lauded as “a very important book” by Maya Angelou, she tells her fascinating life story.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was a 17th-century aristocrat, medical pioneer, and writer. Married to an ambassador, she traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and wrote about her stay there from the perspective of a British woman. She also ensured her children were inoculated against smallpox, making them the first in the West to undergo the procedure. This biography traces her unusual life and accomplishments.

A debutante born to a wealthy family, Diana Barnato could have easily chosen a quiet life on the home front during World War II. Instead, she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary as a pilot in 1941, ferrying aircraft to bases all over the country. 

In 1963, she became the first British woman to break the sound barrier, setting a new record as “the fastest woman in the world.” Her memoir details her career as a pioneering female aviator and the losses she experienced along the way.