Bitches In Bonnets by Sarah J. Makowski

Book Review May 29, 2024

My review

4/5 stars

I discovered this because someone was talking about it on a fan group that I'm in on Facebook. I'm glad they did talk about it, because the premise is fascinating: the idea that Jane Austen's mean girls still exist in today's society and we come across them every day.

I enjoyed various aspects of this book - the analysis of some of the key characters in Austen's various worlds, and the parallels drawn between the society those characters kept and our modern world, in particular. My favourite, most notable aspect of the book, however, was the characters that the author chose to include in her discussion. It's fair to say that some of her choices would be contentious, to say the least, but she made fair arguments for their inclusion and left me, at least in part, convinced that she was right.

The author was well-considered in her views, and has clearly got a passion for the subject matter that runs deeper than Austen and her representations. She offered her points logically and with authority, without anything becoming dominating or overbearing - there is room to disagree with her without feeling uncomfortable about it.

I resisted the 5 stars for the review because it felt like the author only really scratched the surface of some of her points and I wanted more. It was a truly fascinating read that didn't feel fully fleshed out.

Book blurb

Have you ever recognized Mrs. Elton in an office colleague? Or caught a glimpse of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the neighborhood crank? Have you spotted a young Emma Woodhouse in your teenage daughter's clique? Over two hundred years after their creation, Jane Austen's mean girls are still alive and kicking. Bitches in Bonnets explores parallels between Austen's world and our own, showing how modern social and behavioral scientists are just beginning to document and quantify what the author knew instinctively. Interweaving modern research and sociological experiments, author and Austen scholar Sarah Makowski looks beyond Austen's texts for the sources of female aggression both during the Regency and today. Despite incredible advances in gender equality, women still face discrimination and bullying from creche to career. The cruelest assaults are those that are least expected - from other women. Hardly a woman alive has not experienced a false friend whose opinions and affection bring both positive and destructive consequences. The very ordinariness of Austen's stories leaves room for us to identify with her flawed heroines and make peace with their enemies. Bitches in Bonnets examines how six novels of quiet English life, penned by a parochial Regency spinster, still provide insight on female relationships after all these years and how Austen's writing - and our reading of it - offers solace to millions of fans worldwide.