7 Women and the Secret of Their Greatness: A book review by Shirley Rae Redmond

If you enjoy biographies as much as I do, you won’t want to miss 7 Women and the Secret of their Greatness, the newest book by Christian author Eric Metaxes. You’re probably already familiar with his bestselling biographies of William Wilberforce and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

This time he’s selected seven remarkable women and gives his reasons for doing so: Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Saint Maria of Paris, Corrie Ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Mother Teresa. The profiles are written in a lively manner, and you’ll find yourself immersed in their lives.

One of the things Metaxes points out is that part of their greatness is NOT because they did man’s work in a man’s world, but their very femaleness made them special. As he says, “All of them existed and thrived as women and stand quite apart from anything such as competing with men.”

A few of these women I’d never heard of before, like Saint Maria. Susanna Wesley, the mother of 19 children, had a life so much more complex than I’d imagined.

In a day and age when celebrity and notoriety seem more important than integrity and self-sacrifice, these profiles offer a blessed change. The author portrays each woman vividly, showing how they gave up their personal comfort to risk compassionate sacrifices for others.

This is a nonfiction book well worth reading---and giving as a gift to a girl or woman who may need a dose of inspiration.