Laura Gianetti explores the many levels of her subject deftly. Her writing is lucid, engaging, scholarly without being tedious, and rich with cultural, social, psychological, historical as well as aesthetic insights. She explores the history of Renaissance women writers, engaging us through narrative. She bring to life once-influential-but-now-neglected female and feminist authors of the period, noting their struggles. In the process Professor Gianetti enlightens us -- as did the women of her book -- about the gender role people played historically, how they differed from those of the eras that followed. The author recounts the plays of the time -- especially those my popular women playwrights to illuminate the sexual mores and traditions of the time - including arranged marriages, extra-marital affairs, love, romance, homosexuality. In the process, Professor Gianetti reveals the surprising irony, flexibility and humour with which their Renaissance public viewed their own gender roles, relationships, pretences and realities. All in all a book well worth reading!