Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World Review

In these revolutionary times of the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns—where the “her story” of history is being dusted off and given the attention it has been wilfully ignored for so long—and the 100th anniversary of partial suffrage in the UK, there couldn’t be a better time for Brazen to be published.

This anthology of biographies explores the lives of some incredible women. There are stories about trans women, women with autism, child brides, investigative journalists and doctors. While many will be familiar, such as creator of the Moomins, Tove Jansson, actor and inventor Hedy Lamarr or philanthropist Peggy Guggenheim, it’s really the lesser-known characters that shine through, such as the Dominican Republican “Las Mariposas” sisters who actively campaigned against the brutal dictatorship throughout the 1950s.

This is by no means the most original concept, as there are at least five similar anthologies already published, such as Clare Forrest’s The Mighty Women of Science, and with many more on the way including We Shall Fight Until We Win: Pioneering Political Women, but it’s Bagieu’s passion, professionalism and execution that shines through.

Bagieu is undoubtedly an accomplished cartoonist with a free, sketchy and loose art style, almost reduced down to pictograms, but one that conveys exactly the right amount of information required and maintains the perfect level of pacing. In contrast to the minimal line work of the sequential strips each story chapter is capped off with a lush, double page illustration encapsulating an element of the preceding biography. 

As with any anthology, some of the stories work better than others, but the joy is that everyone will have their own favourites. All the stories reveal the difficulties and hardship the women fought in order to achieve recognition or to simply make the world a better place, and the tales are undeniably heartbreaking, enraging and inspirational.

 Throughout all the stories there is a common thread of abuse of every sort imaginable from gaslighting and denigration to sexual and physical attacks. Many of the women initially suffer from institutionalised imposter syndrome and yet this bullying is very often the spark drives them on to succeed through rage and frustration at the countless injustices. As PiL once sang, “Anger is an energy."

From athletes, political activists and scientists, to musicians, pro-choice campaigners and leaders of nations, these women are all compelled to oppose the status quo. This makes the biographies enthralling, as you want these women to succeed as they rail against authoritarianism (read: patriarchy) and oppression of all kinds. The book’s title is suitably apt, with every woman acting “bold and without shame.” But poignantly not all stories have a happy ending with French volcanologist Katia Krafft being killed doing the job she loved in 1991. 

Bagieu herself states at the back of the book “I hope these broad-strokes portraits will inspire you to further explore and research these remarkable human lives for yourself`” and I will be forever grateful for her introducing me to the incredible funk/soul music of singer/songwriter Betty Davis (a sort of female Rick James) who only ever recorded three brilliant albums before retiring.

Essential reading for anyone who suspected that history isn’t all about hirsute scientists, politicians with penises, avaricious businessmen and soldiers fighting endless wars.

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World

by Penelope Bagieu 

is published by Ebury Press on 8 March on International Women’s Day. Hardback, 304pp £17.99