Almost Famous Women by Megan Mayhew Bergman

I'm not one who goes out of my way to pick up a historical fiction book. I love history and I love fiction but combining the two isn't something my heart leaps for.

This novel was so interesting to me, if at first it was a little hard to figure out. What was hard for me to figure out was who was telling the stories. But once I understood that it wasn't the actual almost famous women that was narrating the story (most of the time) it was great. I haven't heard of any of the women talked about in this book, and I guess that is kind of the point. But I was fascinated with the stories that Bergman came up with.

The format is short stories which was smart. You can either pick and choose who you read about or just read it straight threw. I really loved that all different kinds of women are represented in this book. Women of different races and different sexuality.

I totally recommend checking this book out. You can get this for $14.55, a little more expensive than the books I have been showing as of late. But in my opinion, totally worth it.

Favorite Quotes:

• "We were the kind of women who started fights. Not the kind of women that launched ships."

• "The sunrise is beautiful, Hazel had thought then, but it will never be enough. She was questioning then, as she does now: what makes you empty and what makes you full?"

• "Two decades into life and I was burnt out."

• "If you can love her through this part, I told myself, you are the love of her wild and miserable life."

• "'It makes me think of drowning in the ocean,' she said, letting her spoon rest on the bowl for a moment. 'Of getting knocked down by a wave and coming up with shells pressed to your knees, the inside of your nose stinging with salt. Do you remember that feeling?'"

• "There were years when I convinced myself that she had to rely on others because she was a woman without means who didn't want to marry, and there were years when I got tired of trying to save her, tired of trying to coax her into the incredible woman she should have been. There shouldn't have been flashes of greatness; there should have been a lifetime of it."