A wonderful guide for history buffs, feminists, and anyone who needs to be reminded about the immense potential of women.
Feature image credit: Simon & Schuster
For those who associate history with a stuffy classroom, dusty textbooks, and a teacher that puts you to sleep reciting meaningless dates, Ainslie Harvey is here to change your mind. The brains behind the viral Hot History channels on social media is making the study of the past — and its fascinating figures — much more accessible by retelling history in a way that’s digestible to the modern reader. And she’s been so successful in garnering mass interest in the subject that her social media content earned her a book deal.
Sisters of Scandal focuses specifically on women — particularly those who have been deemed notorious or ‘scandalous’ by male historians, and thus the world. We get a closer look at female figures throughout the ages who can be categorised into Femme Fatales, Rulers, Warriors, Artists, and Socialites, with each chapter looking at three to five women. Harvey walks us through a brief biography of each figure, spilling fascinating details about what made them scandalous in the eyes of history. The overarching point? Many of these women were amazing and their true achievements were left out of the records, but the things that made historians clutch their pearls were no different from what male historical figures were doing. Aristotle gave lectures and was forever regarded as a guru of philosophy; Hypatia did and she was murdered by a bunch of angry men.
Harvey covers figures that most would know already, from Cleopatra to Marie Antoinette, but she tells their stories in a new light, untangling the real women from the sexist stereotypes. Who knew that the former could manipulate men with her brain rather than her body, and the latter didn’t actually say that thing about cake? But there are also women that even self-described history lovers might not have heard of, including Empress Sisi and Evelyn Romadka. Between new introductions and fresh retellings, there’s lots to discover whether you’re a history buff or simply curious.
Each page features accompanying images — either artwork or photographs — which make it easier to visualise the women we’re learning about. The text is small and might have become tedious if the content weren’t so interesting, and the author has clearly opted to prioritise fitting in significant information over easier-to-read but less substantial text. It also helps that Harvey’s voice is humorous and conversational — it may look like it at first glance, but this is far from a dusty old history book! At the end, there’s a timeline showing where each of the featured women sits, to help the reader contextualise their stories and how society looked at the time they lived, which makes them all the more impressive.
Reviewed by Vanessa Elle
Instagram: @vanessaellewrites
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Simon & Schuster
Released: November 2025
RRP: $34.99
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