Jenni Murray (1950–2026)

Jenni Murray is a national treasure, an honest raconteur and, I suspect, a really good friend. She is also brutally truthful here in her assessment of her personal journey with obesity. Murray considers the psychology and physiology of this disease from both a scientific view and also a personal perspective. That's what makes the book so good, this isn't just a celebrity diet memoir, it is also an intelligent and considered appraisal of the history of obesity and the different methods the show more people have tried in order to manage their weight. It is also a political polemic about the fact that obesity is not always considered a disease, that abuse about 'size' is not considered a crime and that the NHS will not commit to metabolic surgery but would rather spend millions treating the symptoms. I found this book terrific, it is warmly and honestly written but has the research to back it up. Jenni Murray was already a favourite from her work on 'Women's Hour' but deserves to praised for her work here. show less

Disclaimer: ARC via Librarything

We love lists. We make shopping lists, reading lists, to read lists, movie lists, and on and on. Any book or article that publishes a list is going to get called on that list. So, let’s get that bit out of the way.

Murray’s list of 21 women starts in Ancient Egypt and goes to Cathy Freeman. There is a total of eight women of color, three from the US, and two from France and Russia. Every continent is represented, except South America, which is a bit show more annoying. Bonus points for having Australia represented by an Aboriginal woman. There is a nice mixture of women in the arts, politics, and sciences. It’s true that a reader does wonder why some lesser known women aren’t mentioned, why, in some cases, the standard women are trotted out. And couldn’t a woman from South America make the list? But all the women either were or are highly influential, usually in more than one field.

But quite frankly, it was so wonderful to see Toni Morrison here, and she isn’t the only artist.

Jenni Murray, host of BBC’s Women Hour, details 21 women using an amazing personal voice as well as with a good critical eye. At times her personal admiration really does shine though. Honesty, Merkel, c’mon, let Murray talk to you, basically so she can ask you if you really did read Playboy to understand Trump.

Murray also does not whitewash the flaws in the women. In fact, at times, she notes her own conflicts with some of the actions the women take – for instance Queen Isabella’s prosecutions of Jews. She handles Bhutto’s political history deftly. The tone of the writing is totally engaging, and the book is quite easy to dip in and out of. It is as if you are listening to Murray present on the radio.

The portraits of each woman are incredibly lovely show less

This is a great idea. Jenni Murray takes 21 women who have shaped Britain and who have, in some way, inspired her in her life and gives a short biography of their life, what they achieved and sometimes an explanation of their impact on her life or why she picked them. Some of the people selected are certainly inspiring. It is clearly a personal selection, and that's where I feel it is weakened. The selection includes a range of pioneers in various areas, scientist, doctor, nurse, artist, show more composer, fashion designer, a couple of rulers, & mathematicians and 4 authors. The balance of the book is 5 politicians and 2 suffragettes/suffragists, which seems to throw the book out of balance. I accept that Jenni is a journalist and has always been a more political animal than I ever will be, but it did weight the book very heavily.

For me, the selection reduced the rating, as it was the weighting towards women in the one area that reduced, to me, its power. Each short chapter is very good on their own, it is the way the whole works together that I felt didn't work entirely for me. show less

The author profiles women throughout history, starting with Joan of Arc, giving brief bios and explaining their role in history. Some of the selections are...a bit odd...like Queen Isabella, but the author does explain her reasoning for including her. Some of the ones left out were also odd...no sign of Hypatia, none of the women scientists that have done so much for the world. I suspect some of the omissions were to keep to the 21, not make the book too long, and include a number of show more non-white women. While this is laudable, it does leave a lot out, and women who have done a lot for women. Still, it is interesting reading, and definitely worth the time. show less