Women in History

Four queens : the Provençal sisters who ruled Europe by Nancy Goldstone
Traces the lives of the four daughters of the count of Provence who eventually became the queens of France, England, Germany, and Sicily, from Marguerite's cultural clashes within the Palais du Roi and Eleanor's civil-war-provoking political aspirations to Sanchia's lonely life and Beatrice's life-risking ambitions.

Born to rule : five reigning consorts, granddaughters of Queen Victoria by Julia P. Gelardi
Traces the stories of five of Queen Victoria's most famous and powerful granddaughters, drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, diplomatic documents, and interviews to reveal how their life events and marriages to reigning European monarchs directly influenced history

Bess of Hardwick : empire builder by Mary S. Lovell
Chronicles the life of a sixteenth-century impoverished nobleman's daughter who rose to become one of England's most wealthy and powerful women, in an account that describes her four marriages, witness to four monarchies, and building of the great house at Chatsworth

The Pirate Queen: the story of Grace O'Malley, Irish pirate by Alan Gold
A meticulously detailed, fictional portrait of the legendary Irish pirate describes how Grace O'Malley built a powerful empire that became the terror of the English on the high seas and chronicles her daring exploits in defiance of English rule during the Elizabethan era.

Patriot hearts : a novel of the founding mothers by Barbara Hambly
The triumphs and turmoil of early America are revealed through fictional portraits of four women--Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings, and Dolley Madison--who played key roles during four presidential administrations

The Peabody sisters : three women who ignited American romanticism by Megan Marshall
Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody were in many ways our American Brontes. The story of these remarkable sisters — and their central role in shaping the thinking of their day — has never before been fully told. Twenty years in the making, Megan Marshall's monumental biograpy brings the era of creative ferment known as American Romanticism to new life.
Elizabeth, the oldest sister, was a mind-on-fire thinker. A powerful influence on the great writers of the era — Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau among them — she also published some of their earliest works. It was Elizabeth who prodded these newly minted Transcendentalists away from Emerson's individualism and toward a greater connection to others. Mary was a determined and passionate reformer who finally found her soul mate in the great educator Horace Mann. The frail Sophia was a painter who won the admiration of the preeminent society artists of the day. She married Nathaniel Hawthorne — but not before Hawthorne threw the delicate dynamics among the sisters into disarray.
Marshall focuses on the moment when the Peabody sisters made their indelible mark on history

Inspiring African American women of Virginia by Veronica A. Davis Includes Jennie Dean, founder of the Manassas School, Bessie Thorpe (Tharps), physician, Maggie Lena Walker, bank president and Virginia Florence, first African American female librarian, singer Roberta Flack and poet Rita Dove among many familiar and not so familiar names.