WOMEN WHO READ ARE DANGEROUS (ABBEVILLE)

This elegant book should appeal to anyone interested in art, literature, or women's history. As the provocative title indicates, it reveals how a woman with a book was once seen as idle or suspect and how women have gained autonomy through reading over the years. It features works of art featuring women reading with intelligent and engaging commentary on each, telling us who the subject is, her relationship to the artist, and even what she is reading, ranging from a 1333 Annunciation painting of the angel Gabriel speaking to the Virgin Mary, book in hand, to 20th-century works, such as a stunning photograph of Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses. This appealing survey provides a veritable slideshow of the many iterations of a woman and her book.