The Women of Wynton's by Donna Mumma

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
This book draws the reader into the backdrops of women's power, privilege, education, and interactions.

It explores how women see each other: threat, burden, helper, or friend? How do they boost each other or keep other women from thriving?

Those themes unfold in this wonderful story of structure, intuition, and intentions. Though the settings are old-fashioned, the observations ring true and are satisfying in scope and resolution.

I recommend this for feminists and traditional thinkers, male and female. Mumma understands women's hearts and abilities as they're lived out at home and under external power structures. She pictures the need for accountability, mentors, and people who make the way for anyone viewed as less privileged. 

And in the process, she encourages the reader to seize the day for themselves. A book that enthralled me at times and reminded me of the push and pull of relationships within our assumptions of who someone else is. You'll cheer for the characters as you close the book. And maybe, just maybe, you'll try something you've resisted and been afraid to tackle. Maybe you'll have the courage to approach someone you thought was beyond you - up or down in your hierarchies and webs of connections.