March Book Club: J. Smith- Unfortunately, She Was A Nymphomaniac

Our March book is subtitled "A new history of Rome's imperial women."

From goodreads.com:
"Writer, activist and journalist Joan Smith has worked for years to raise awareness of violence against women and girls. And has been instrumental in bringing the innate misogyny of the police to public attention. Her new book will reinterpret the bloody, violent story of imperial women at the hands of (in no particular order) Nero, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula – and others. These imperial mothers, daughters and wives – were the most privileged women of their time but their lives were overshadowed, dominated and controlled by these men. Raped, killed, ripped apart from their children, and mostly airbrushed from history, Joan Smith brings these women back into light and into focus, offering an account of their extraordinary and tragic lives.

In Unfortunately, She was a Nymphomaniac, Smith pieces together the stories of these women, showing how they struggled for control of their lives at a time when both the law and culture were stacked against them. It is not a conventional history but an interpretation of the original texts informed by what we know now about the mechanics of domestic abuse. There are no ‘nymphomaniacs’ here but the picture that emerges is one of spirited, inspiring and sometimes reckless resistance to male authority. "

Happy reading, everyone!