Seven Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness

I loved this book & about everything else written by Metaxas! It's a beautiful glimpse into lives of women, some of whom I knew and others I'd never heard of, who have changed our world and still lead by example centuries later! Inspiring!!

It is humbling to learn what these spiritual and courageous women did for God. Joan of Arc was one I had known about, but not enough to really understand her spiritual connection with God. What courage was required for Susanna Wesley to raise her children to love God and live for Him in the face of hardship.

Imagine diving into the lives of some of the most influential and successful women in history. Not the super wealthy or internet famous—instead, women whose stories and influence spans hundreds of years, multiple continents, and a wide variety of topics. Eric Metaxas doesn’t offer a book of dry historical narratives about these women. Instead, his writing style offers their lives as a story that draws the reader in and gives them an insight into who these women were beyond their accomplishments. The book in a couple sentences: 7 great women—Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Saint Maria of Paris, Corrie ten Boom, Rosa Parks Mother Teresa. Each one could have a collection written about her but Metaxas does an amazing job of highlighting not only their accomplishments but the character of each woman. You learn her background and how she became great. What I liked most: Each story had the right mix of history, fact, and perspective to bring the stories to life. The writing and tone allow readers to imagine the stories and engage. Plus, the wide variety of women and the purposeful choice of women who excelled without comparison to men is encouraging. I might change: Although each woman is unique, a concluding chapter that highlights similarities between all of the women would have helped the reader make solid conclusions. A quote to remember: “When I consider the seven women I chose, I see that most of them were great for reasons that derive precisely from their being women, not in spite of it; and what made them great has nothing to do with their being measured against or competing with men. In other words, their accomplishments are not gender-neutral but are rooted in their singularity as women.”

I loved reading this book. The lives of these women are very inspiring. It is one of my favorites to give as an any occasion gift to my Christian and secular girlfriends. Eric Metaxas is an excellent writer. His biography of Martin Luther is fantastic, if you like big books. The shorter bios in this book, and 7 Men are little gems.

Excellent book, read it with my young teen

What a great book! I loved "Seven Men", but as a woman, reading this book was so much more inspiring. I gave it to my niece for her 14th birthday and decided that I will give it to my other three nieces for their birthdays. The author does such a great job of giving you just enough history that you feel like you know the women without boring you down with details. The book definitely has a Christian perspective, but I think non-Christians could find inspiration in it as well - to make a difference in the world around you even if you can't make a difference in the world at large.

This is an inspiring book. It creates in the reader an urge to do more with one's own life. The beautifully written outline of each woman's life is a glimpse into God's true purpose in life. My favorite was the story about Mother Mary of Paris. It is a haunting picture of love carried out with ultimate sacrifice. This would make wonderful reading for girls who are seniors in high school. It is a radical departure from the call of modern culture.

After reading the Bonhoeffer biography and hearing Metaxas speak live, I have come to appreciate & admire his unique blend of humor, intellectual rigor, and faith. I expect to come away challenged by his works and inspired by his ability to engage the audience with powerful and relevant truths. I just finished Seven Women and left feeling disappointed. As other reviewers have noted, I left unsure what truths or message he wanted to convey. I left confused over some of his comments about gender and unsure what he sees as the secret of their greatness (or ours). Perhaps some of that stems from his vantage point as a male author writing on the secret of greatness in women. I'm willing to give him grace in that. I did find myself wishing he had labeled each sketch with a theme, of what he thought that woman portrayed and why it was important or how it might speak to women (and men) today. As for the profiled women, I learned some fascinating portraits of some fascinating women, several that were completely new to me. Metaxas introduces us to their story through brief biographical & historical sketches. He sheds light on their stories and the times in which they lived. In doing so, he implicitly debunks stereotypes of one formula for womanhood and shows women who shaped history and made significant contributions in a variety of contexts. While their stories are interesting and stand alone as mini-bios, I felt less engaged as a reader and left to wonder myself why their story is significant to him and how or why he thinks it might speak to us today. (And I think there are many ways these stories can & should speak to us.) I have come to appreciate his insights as an author and wished I left with more of them in regards to this book and these women. As a single woman, I strongly appreciate, though, the pictures of great women who are single & faithful, those who made contributions beyond motherhood & marriage as well as those who were faithful through hard marriages, heartbreak, and abandonment. It's not my favorite Metaxas book, but I'm still a Metaxas fan. I'll look forward to engaging the next read. (I did not receive the book free and am writing the review just to share my thoughts.)

I like Eric Metaxas writing style - he is readable,terse,covers a lot of ground and is able to keep each biography moving along. He has filled some huge gaps in my awareness of some of these women and in my understanding of the ones I did know of. At the same time both an enjoyable and a challenging read.

a great present

You know these 7 stories already, right? That's what I thought. Eric Metaxas includes all the best parts in a faster, page-turner telling, PLUS gritty best parts I never knew, like the messy marriage that makes Susanna Wesley so relatable. And Joan of Arc . . . I have no words for Joan. Her words are better anyways. Listen to how she talks to the military men who doubt her, "In God's name! You thought that you could fool me, and instead you fooled yourself; I bring you better help than ever came to you from any soldier to any city: It is the help of the King of Heaven." This book, and these women, changed me.

Great book! Extremely inspiring!

Given as a gift to my son's girlfriend. A solid book with some great role models in this era of moral relativism and Gender issues.