She Hath Been Reading: Women and Shakespeare Clubs in America
"Scheil offers a fascinating study of American communities of women (1880s–1940s) who read Shakespeare. She has uncovered previously neglected historical records, exploring the origins of these clubs (including those of black women), their range of literary practices, their effects on domestic life, and their outreaches from urban to isolated rural areas. . . . Using direct quotes from some of the women involved, Scheil follows the lives ofthese club members and reveals how their readings also translated into 'civic, cultural, and educational improvement.'"—Choice(1 November 2012)"InShe Hath Been Reading, Scheil exhaustively chronicles the existence and practices of women's Shakespeare clubs in the United States. Her book also presents an alternate narrative of literacy and American life beginning in the late nineteenth and continuing into the twentieth century. . . . Thus Scheil’s book makes the convincing and valuable argument that Shakespeare was a driving force in the formation of American culture at this time."—Katherine Fredlund,Cithara(November 2012)"She Hath Been Readingis an impressive and very well-researched book that brings to light a vast archive of new material that has never been used in such an extensive way by Shakespeareans. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the reception of Shakespeare's work."—Andrew Murphy, University of St Andrews, author ofShakespeare for the People: Working-Class Readers, 1800–1900"She Hath Been Readingis an important book that fills a gap in our understanding of Shakespeare's role in American life during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Katherine West Scheil’s research is prodigious, and the accumulation of detail provides overwhelming evidence that across America women gathered to read and study Shakespeare, seeking a path to greater cultural understanding and education as well as the pleasure of sharing their readings with like-minded friends. The direct quotes from clubwomen are sometimes trenchant, often endearing. Using these women’s actual words, Scheil conveys what these Shakespeare clubs meant to them and why they were so important. She Hath Been Reading is a major contribution to our understanding of Shakespeare’s role in nineteenth- and twentieth-century American culture."—Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University, author ofPerforming Blackness on English Stages, 1500–1800