For her first book, comedian Eleanor Morton gives us Life Lessons from Historical Women and it is as stuffed as me at a free buffet. Between its pages you’ll find in-depth stories about women who have created and inspired change for future generations everywhere, as well as a plethora of fun facts, quotes, anecdotes, and commentary from the author herself.
Life Lessons is accessible, fun, and really well researched – it’s the kind of book you can dip in and out of depending on what particular flavour of motivation you need, though I do recommend going from start to finish for your first read. I’m ashamed to admit that many of the badass women featured I hadn’t heard of before, like Junko Tabei (the first woman to climb Everest) and Mary Bryant (pretty sure that ‘Survivor’ by Destiny’s Child was inspired by her… probably…not, but still), though the likes of Josephine Baker and Ada Lovelace I was more familiar with.


Aside from the ‘main cast’ Morton covers, you’ll also find wee lists with such titles as ‘10 Roman Women I Wouldn’t Want to Bump Into in a Dark Alley’ and ‘10 Ways Women Dealt with Periods’. There’s obviously a lot of humour here, given Eleanor’s day job, but more importantly there’s real heart and passion for the women she tells us about, and for the challenges women still face today (too many!).
It would have been very easy for Morton’s first book to be something like Wummin are Funny Anaw – A Scottish Lassie’s Perspective, but no; she chose history and this should be commended.
Now, Life Lessons from Historical Women is by no means a scholarly text, but I do think historians will appreciate these stories being presented in Morton’s style. As for lowly poets and anyone who loves a pub quiz: read this and you’ll feel pretty inspired and a little more smug about your chances of winning that bottle of house wine.
Life Lessons from Historical Women is out now, published by Radar. Available to buy here.