Overview

NPR Best Book of 2015 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER The author of the celebrated Victory tells the fascinating story of the intertwined lives of Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first and second women to serve as Supreme Court justices. The relationship between Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg--Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, western rancher's daughter and Brooklyn girl--transcends party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other's presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women. Linda Hirshman's dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession--battles that would ultimately benefit every American woman. She also makes clear how these two justices have shaped the legal framework of modern feminism, including employment discrimination, abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and many other issues crucial to women's lives. Sisters-in-Law combines legal detail with warm personal anecdotes that bring these very different women into focus as never before. Meticulously researched and compellingly told, it is an authoritative account of our changing law and culture, and a moving story of a remarkable friendship.

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9781504648806

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Reviews

A prodigious achievement and an important contribution to the history of our times. -- Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake Linda Hirshman's joint biography of Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is fascinating and informative but is also joyful-a stirring reminder of how these two pioneers for women's rights have advanced the cause in their singular but complementary ways. -- Jeffrey Toobin, CNN legal analyst and author of The Oath A thorough, accurate, and most readable account of the careers of the two first women to serve as Justices of the Supreme Court. -- Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens [A] fascinating audiobook...Narrator Andrea Gallo's engaging, open voice has a slight rasp but is eminently compelling and inviting. While she doesn't have an elastic range, she does adjust her tone to capture the momentous nature of the decisions the Court made during the shared tenure of these two judicial leaders. -- AudioFile An intelligent, evenhanded look at a changing society and its legal foundations. -- Kirkus Reviews Hirshman's conversational style and deep analysis of several precedent-setting constitutional cases should appeal to both casual and professional readers. -- Publishers Weekly An absorbing history of the struggle for women's rights in the legal arena and the two extraordinary women who helped to advance those rights. -- Booklist (starred review) An illuminating analysis...This superb book unpacks the remarkable achievements of the first two female Supreme Court justices. -- Library Journal (starred review) Hirshman's ability to write clearly about the law without oversimplifying enables her to explain how O'Connor played defense and Ginsburg offense. -- Huffington Post A gossipy, funny, sometimes infuriating, and moving tale of two women so similar and yet so different. -- NPR Vital...Part of what makes Hirshman such a likable writer-in addition to her wit and ability to explain the law succinctly without dumbing it down-is her optimism. -- Washington Post The story of Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, their separate routes to the Supreme Court, and what they accomplished during the more than twelve years they spent together is irresistible. -- New York Times Book Review Carefully researched and enjoyably written. -- Wall Street Journal A tale of two unfaltering women with steel-trap minds...Smart, startling, and profoundly moving. -- Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra

Author Information

Linda Hirshman is a lawyer, a cultural historian, and the author of Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution and many other books. She received her JD from the University of Chicago Law School and her PhD in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and has taught philosophy and women's studies at Brandeis University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, Newsweek, the Daily Beast, and POLITICO. She lives in Arizona and New York City. Andrea Gallo is an audiobook narrator whose works include Ungifted by Gordan Korman, The Nosy Neighbor by Fern Michaels, Kings of the Earth by John Clinch, and In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols, among many others.

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