Booklist Starred Review for Sisters in Law

Hirshman, Linda (Author)
Sep 2015. 416 p. Harper, hardcover, $28.99. (9780062238467). 347.73.

From opposite ends of the nation and opposite poles of the political spectrum, as the first and the second woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justices O’Connor and Ginsburg have advanced issues of gender equality and stand as icons of the women’s movement. Hirshman, an attorney who has argued before the court, details the separate journeys the two took to the nation’s highest court. O’Connor, not as overtly feminist as Ginsburg, worked her way through the state legislature of Arizona, supporting conservatives including Barry Goldwater. Ginsburg was a card-carrying member of the ACLU, arguing case after case, building toward legal support for equal rights for women in groundbreaking legal battles. Hirshman intertwines the stories of the two women, their very different backgrounds and personalities, and how they managed the delicate balancing act of supporting women’s issues and challenging the old boy’s club of the legal profession from law school to the Supreme Court. Hirshman details their impact on momentous decisions on issues including abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, employment, and women in the military. This is an absorbing history of the struggle for women’s rights in the legal arena and the two extraordinary women who helped to advance those rights.

— Vanessa Bush