A History of Women's Work (Hardback)

A fascinating read! It was jam packed with information about women's roles that have been overlooked throughout history, their impact on society and how they have changed over time.
Some chapters were particularly enlightening such as the one of the match girls.

It was written in a way that was super easy to follow. Even though it covers a lot of history, it never felt dry or overwhelming.

NetGalley, Hayley Groom

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this one. It has some fascinating facts about the lives of women and girls throughout history, particularly British history. It has well-documented and intriguing stories of real women. I loved reading this.
Some highlights: fishermen's wives, matchstick girls, and making clothing for the family. I enjoyed the personal/real stories of various women as it give an excellent perspective.

NetGalley, kayla thomas

This was a really interesting book, and I loved how it dived into the historical jobs that women have held over the years. I learned a ton about the different jobs outside of the traditional roles of the household that women have historically been sequestered in. 4.5/5

NetGalley, Lauren B

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Informative and engaging while also being fun to read, suitable for history lovers and those with just a passing interest into the subject and or era.

NetGalley, Heather Bennett

This was a fun, quick read that exposes the reader to the various roles women have played throughout history. And by 'work', the book doesn’t just mean traditional careers. It also highlights the countless tasks women did (and still do!) for themselves, their homes and their families.

The historical focus is mainly focused on women in England with a few nods to other countries and cultures sprinkled in. With some exceptions, most chapters center on the period from the 1500s onward, with a lot more focus on the 19th century.

The material is presented in the form of mostly standalone chapters that read almost like mini-articles. Each one spotlights a different job or task or role. They work great as quick introductions to their topics. Personally, I was especially into the cheese-making and dairy chapter (what can I say? I love cheese. Cheese = joy)...

All in all, I recommend this to anyone who's dipping their toes into learning about women's roles throughout history. It's fun, quick and would be easy to pick up whenever you have a few minutes to spare.

NetGalley, Mona M

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A History of Women's Work is an utterly enthralling and fascinating book about women in a man's world from a historical perspective. Women have been...and in some cases still are...considered second-rate citizens so have had to work extra hard to find their footing. Author Janet Few details many fascinating jobs and tasks performed by women in a time when laundry meant painstaking and backbreaking work. During the world wars, the Women's Land Army were responsible for planting and harvesting crops, animal husbandry, dairying, controlling pests and forestry management. Women became teachers and nurses, others worked in mills and still others in industry making clothing, lace and pottery. Often jobs were extremely dangerous, especially those in munitions factories.

Amongst the most interesting (and sometimes heartbreaking) topics in my view include child labour, suffragettes, glove tax, factory acts, and creating Leek Buttons. I had not heard of Leek Buttons before. Multiple photographs give breath to the information and stories. In addition to the detailed content, I enjoyed the accessible writing. These astonishing women were real-life heroines.

NetGalley, Brenda Carleton

I really enjoyed the fact this book shows the western evolution of women becoming part of the working class, something that is often taken for granted today. I appreciated that there were true accounts of everyday women, not just well known ones to illustrate the author’s points. The fact that some of them were journal entries or seemed like was a personable touch. It also helped me come to terms with the insane stakes women before us had to go through just to get work or complete their work, the author does a very good job of laying this all out.

I liked that it highlights types of work I personally didn’t consider significant, but were actually very impactful to a specific era. There’s aspects that don’t have anything to do with women’s work, but help paint a clearer picture of the times and what women were going through, which I found valuable... there is a wealth of knowledge provided in this book and it would make a great reference point for anyone interested in diving into this topic.

NetGalley, Flora Nzeribe

A very informative and well arranged book with fascinating insights into the women’s careers of the past. I have greatly enjoyed this read and will probably recommend it to quite a few friends.

NetGalley, Kateryna Mika

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

In *A History of Women’s Work*, Janet Few presents a lucid, accessible, and deeply necessary exploration of women’s labor across the centuries—both paid and unpaid, visible and invisible. Drawing from a broad sweep of British and European social history, Few foregrounds the realities of daily life while offering a timely re-examination of how gender has shaped, constrained, and defined the working roles women have occupied throughout history.

Rather than offering a linear or monolithic account, Few presents a kaleidoscopic view of women’s labor—from domestic service, agricultural work, and cottage industries to the complex intersections of motherhood, caregiving, and community labor. She brings particular sensitivity to the roles often omitted from formal economic records: tasks vital to household survival, local economies, and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge.

What distinguishes this volume is Few’s careful contextualization. She resists the temptation to romanticize pre-industrial labor or overstate feminist “firsts.” Instead, she constructs a nuanced narrative that pays attention to class, regionality, and historical change. The lives of working-class women, rural laborers, widows, and servants are given as much attention as the exceptional few who broke professional barriers. Her chapters on early industrialization and wartime labor are particularly strong, capturing both the shifts in opportunity and the burdens that accompanied these transitions.

Few’s prose is clear, instructive, and enriched by case studies, archival excerpts, and the occasional personal anecdote, which together render the historical landscape tactile and humane. Readers with an interest in genealogy or social history will also appreciate her attention to documentation practices and the silences in historical records—where women’s contributions are often obscured or misattributed.

**Final Verdict:**
*A History of Women’s Work* is a thoughtful and empowering chronicle of labor, resilience, and adaptation. Janet Few has written a book that not only restores visibility to centuries of overlooked contributions but also invites ongoing reflection on the structures that continue to define women’s economic lives. Essential reading for historians, educators, feminists, and anyone invested in the social architecture of work.

NetGalley, Neveen Badr

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Smart, engaging, and so needed.

This book is exactly the kind of history I love—clear, focused, and full of purpose. A History of Women’s Work does a fantastic job shining light on the often invisible labor of women throughout the centuries. Janet Few doesn’t just tell us that women’s contributions have been overlooked—she proves it, and then gives those stories the space and attention they’ve always deserved.

I appreciated how the book is broken down into household labor, home-based industries, and paid work outside the home. That structure really helps show the range and complexity of what women were doing, often simultaneously, and often without recognition or pay. It’s also surprisingly readable—grounded in research, but never dense or dry. The case studies are vivid and specific, which helped connect the bigger picture to real people and lives.

One of the things I loved most was how Few encourages readers to dig into their own family histories. She includes practical tips for uncovering the stories of our female ancestors, who might not show up in obvious places like wills or land records but were absolutely vital to their households and communities. That personal invitation really hit home for me—it made the book feel both educational and empowering.

If you’re interested in women’s history, social history, or genealogy, this is a must-read. It fills in so many of the gaps left by traditional narratives and does it in a way that’s both accessible and inspiring.

NetGalley, Chelsea Dugan

The author's writing is very readable and I would consider this a very accessible book for readers who want to learn more about women's history in a meaningful way.

NetGalley, Bertie Cunningham

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This was a wonderful insight on the work of women throughout history. Things like this are incredibly important and yet they are not taught at school.

NetGalley, Caroline Zenkel

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

For anyone interested in diving deeper into feminism and the evolution of women’s roles, this is a perfect read. As someone who loves a good “ragency” book, I was really drawn to how it explores women’s contributions through history—not just in formal jobs, but in all the behind-the-scenes work that often goes unrecognized.

It’s one of those books that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about women and work. It’s not just about what’s in the spotlight but about all the things women have done quietly, with so much creativity and dedication.

Well-written and straight to the point, it delivers a fresh perspective on what “work” has really meant for women over time.

NetGalley, Stefani Nikolova

Informative with a nice writing style to keep one engaged. It covers an important historical topic in a way that is accessible to most audience. Focusing mostly on British women's work history, with exceptions in a couple chapters that expand a bit further. Kept me curious about each next chapter and I'm glad I was lucky enough to read this early.

NetGalley, Noura Ahmed