I don’t think it’s possible to give a fair review to this book. It’s beyond amazing, even 5 starts feels short. The amount of hard working and love put into this pages is unexplainable. My recommendation: get the book and you will understand what I mean.

4.5 stars

What a great book. This collection of works from all of these amazing, strong and influential women was so powerful and impactful. Letters, essays, poems, short stories, speeches from an inspirational collection of black women spanning generations covering everything from racism, sexualization, slavery and bondage, loss to love, sisterhood, hope, activism, belonging and discovery. These are stories of experiences and are drenched in rich thought and action leaving the reader feeling as involved

As with any anthology, not everything will work for every reader, but there is a great deal of fantastic writing here. Highly recommended.

2 contributors a day, about 10 pages. This took us 3 months and 13 days to read, but we DID IT! While not every contribution landed for me (that would be impossible) I'm still giving this 4.5 stars for the amazing depth and breadth. If I were editor, I'd change a few things about arrangement, but otherwise, excellent.

Every female should have this bookAbsolutely love this book. It’s filled with so many short stories and poems all written by African American women. The cover is beautiful. The stories are compelling.

The kind that screams 'you have to read me' got it the very first time I discovered it . I need an extra star if not more to rate it. An anthology like no other from powerhouses around the world, a force of unflinching stories beginning with important entries from the 18th and 19th centuries, a reminder that we as the later generation stand tall because of those who have gone before. loved the way they delivered their essays and letters, Nana Asmau✊🏾, Sarah Parker on her letter to the daily News...

Since I am one of the contributors, I am biased. But I love this book and salute the other Daughters of Africa whose wonderful words fill its pages.

A phenomenal anthology. Quite an undertaking to read this cover to cover (given this collection is almost 1000 pages), but I would still say it's worth it. I had very few misses here--only one (out of 200) I remember not finishing because I really did not get on with the writing style. Most of the entries here are original works written for this anthology, which I do wish it had included more excerpts from novels, etc, but then again that would have been a publishing rights nightmare, so I under...

Talented writersThe cover is gorgeous.   The common themes I read about were tradition, violence, romance, sexuality, race and identity and are all explored in waysthat are direct, surprising, sweet, angry and joyful.  since there are over 200 stories, I have listed the ones that I liked below. Spoiler alert* 1940s - -Barbara Jenkins - A Perfect Stranger - This was a beautiful romance story about a 70-year-old gentleman who is remembering when he met his wife at age 21. In current time he is tra...

A great introduction to the work of many black women! A must read for anyone who wants to read more African literature

How do you even review a book like this?With its over 200 contributors from all over the world, representing every genre of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays, it is even possible to sum it up coherently?Of course not, and trying to would do these authors a disservice, because while united by their ethnicity, their creative expression is a rainbow of ideas.It featured way too many fantastic pieces for me to even try to list them all, so please excuse this very limited selection I will focus

Fascinating collection of writings from women of the African diaspora over the past 150 years. I thoroughly recommend the speech by Diane Abbott which was eye-opening for me.

It's an exceptional book

The mind-broadening potential of this book (and I assume its predecessor), especially for a white dude like me, makes it an Everest of reading. 200+ writers in all fields chart race, feminism, capitalism, globalism, slavery, literature, education, love and marriage, LGBTQI+ issues, and everything else, from a black female perspective. It's a lesson -- not just in the breadth of human experience in this most oppressed demographic, but in the wealth of great writing this loose transnational group

Absolutely essential and also one of the best designed/edited/presented anthologies I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I just wish international could have included a few more women writers from outside of English...

This isn't a book to read cover to cover - it's an eternal resource, and it's wonderful. People may wonder why read this one if you read the first? Taken together they are a set. The first was more of an introduction, with many women loads of us will have already known (if only in name) and this one goes wider and deeper. It's an incredible reference with women from all over the world represented. Organized and researched terrifically, the two sit side-by-side on my shelves. If I ever become a G...

***WHY DO I WANT TO READ THIS***I got sucked in by the title. The weird thing is I sorta realised I'm actually of African descent. Which is undeniable when I look in the mirror or at my family. I have no idea which part of it but still ... So I'm curious how other women see themselves or if they even think about it. It's probably really obvious I haven't read the blurb. And I don't want to. Let's be surprised

1000 pages will be a piece of cake, I thought to myself. It's nothing I haven't done before. This book is unlike anything I've ever read. Busby rounded up over 200 authors who contributed works for this book, ranging from poetry to nonfiction. There are short stories, there are essays, there are small sections of full length books, there are excerpts from plays, there are excerpts from letters and speeches. Some of the works have been published for decades, some were written specifically for thi...

I'm not sure what to say except it was an experience. Around 200 entries from different women. There are a lot of gems in this collection.