She Revolutionized Medicine. Why Isn’t She a Household Name?

Lydia Reeder’s “The Cure for Women” tells the story of the remarkable Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi.

Janice P. Nimura | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Taking on Nora Ephron, Movie by Movie and Book by Book

Ephron’s entire oeuvre — “When Harry Met Sally,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Heartburn” and more — is examined in a new book.

Celia McGee | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Marie Curie: Mentor to Women or Martyr to Science?

In a new biography, Dava Sobel focuses not just on the legendary physicist and chemist, but on the 45 women who worked in her lab.

Kate Zernike | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Helen Vendler, ‘Colossus’ of Poetry Criticism, Dies at 90

In the poetry marketplace, her praise had reputation-making power, while her disapproval could be withering.

William Grimes | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

A Food Writer Whose Essays Go Heavy on the Salt and Fire

Geraldine DeRuiter’s “If You Can’t Take the Heat” expands on her viral, award-winning blog posts.

Jennifer Reese | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

In a Novelist’s Hands, a Herstory of England Is Delicious — but Not Sweet

In “Normal Women,” Philippa Gregory gives us nine centuries of real-life heroines, murderers, boxers and brides.

Eva Wolchover | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Some of the Best Bards Were Women

In “Shakespeare’s Sisters,” the Renaissance scholar Ramie Targoff presents an astounding group of Elizabethan women of letters.

Tina Brown | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

What Happens When a Woman Wronged Resorts to Violence?

In “The Furies,” the journalist Elizabeth Flock reports the stories of three women who fought back — to defend themselves, other women or their people.

Sanam Maher | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Listen to Ntozake Shange Like You’ve Never Heard Her Before

A new volume of the Black feminist’s previously unpublished writing is read in audiobook form by a full cast of Black women.

Omari Weekes | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Critics Scoffed. Nora Roberts Just Kept Writing.

At 73, a titan of the romance world talks about how she redefined a genre that was all too easy to dismiss.

Lulu Garcia-Navarro | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

For America’s ‘Wild Girls,’ the Natural World Meant Freedom

In her new book, the historian Tiya Miles shows how formative outdoor experiences helped diverse women — from Harriet Tubman to Indigenous athletes — transcend prescribed social and gender roles.

Jill Watts | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Making of an Ivy League President: Two Women’s Stories

In “Necessary Trouble,” by Drew Gilpin Faust, and “Up Home,” by Ruth J. Simmons, the former presidents of Harvard and Brown recount their unlikely paths to leadership at two of America’s most elite universities.

Martha Southgate | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Case for Home Births in America

In “Birth Control,” Allison Yarrow argues that this country’s male-dominated medical industry prioritizes control instead of the autonomy — and safety — of pregnant patients.

Susan Dominus | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Lois Libien, Who Found a Readership With Household Tips, Dies at 87

As a journalist she covered issues affecting women, then turned to writing about housekeeping in handbooks and a syndicated newspaper column.

Sam Roberts | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Girls to the Front!

In “Young and Restless,” Mattie Kahn returns young women and girls to their rightful role in the history books: as forces for change.

BY GARANCE FRANKE-RUTA | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Even After Debunking, ‘Sybil’ Hasn’t Gone Away

The “true story” of a woman with multiple personalities was a 1973 sensation and is still in print 50 years later. Why do such lurid tales hold their grip?

BY ALEXANDRA JACOBS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Even After Debunking, ‘Sybil’ Hasn’t Gone Away

The “true story” of a woman with multiple personalities was a 1973 sensation and is still in print 50 years later. Why do such lurid tales hold their grip?

BY ALEXANDRA JACOBS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

When Being Thin Rules Your Life

In “Good Girls,” Hadley Freeman chronicles her long battle with anorexia, and its larger implications.

BY CASEY SCHWARTZ | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Meet the Queen Bee of Victorian Abortionists

The notorious Madame Restell lived large and fearlessly in a century not so far, far away.

BY JOANNA SCUTTS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

‘Butts: A Backstory’ Tells Us to Take Them Seriously

In her new cultural history, Heather Radke considers how women’s backsides have been described, displayed and fetishized — and what that says about gender, race and more.

BY LAUREN CHRISTENSEN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure