She-Wolves is structured as interwoven biographies. Through a combination of original interviews and research, its protagonists are shown in all their complexities. Bren has an instinct for memorable, demonstrative detail ... There are flaws with the organizing principle of historical firsts, which can, as teaching professor William L. Smith has argued, suggest that disparities have been overcome, while elevating the story of the individual achiever over the collective whole. But She-Wolves uses the trap of firsts to destroy the trap. Bren’s interested in the work it took to get there, to stay there, and how it all felt ... If reading consecutively about so many firsts sounds a bit numbing, that’s because it is. But the two primary flaws of She-Wolves (repetitive anecdotes, extra-long accounts) are also two of its most important assets. Bren’s most recent previous history, of the Barbizon hotel, was also similarly repetitive. But the repetition is important here: a precise, singular story of a talent sabotaged by jealous male colleagues could sound like a story of one individual’s bad luck. But by piling up dozens of such instances, Bren captures the feeling of the culture, her book’s power built from accumulation.
...filled with intriguing anecdotes ... It’s no wonder that women, and members of other underrepresented groups, have been clamoring to get in and be treated equitably. But these decades of struggle, exhaustively recounted in Bren’s book, have led to surprisingly meager progress. As for why and what this all means, Bren has frustratingly little to say. Are certain kinds of people better suited to financial speculation? Does the financial industry’s homogeneity have anything to do with the cycle of bubbles, crashes and financial crises that have become a way of life? She-Wolves sidesteps these deeper questions. Bren’s only goal seems to be to remind us of a familiar fact: 'Wall Street was built for men, and fundamentally, it remains an old boys’ club.'
...makes a valiant effort to refresh readers’ memories by reintroducing characters who’ve gone missing for a few chapters—we’re reminded, for example, that one of them has a fondness for Welsh rarebit—but there’s lots of biographical detail to absorb. And there are far too many women who turn up briefly, illustrate a point that has been made before, then disappear. Unfortunately, the prose isn’t always on the money.
While the situation has markedly improved, there are still far too few women in positions of power and leadership in the finance industry. We might hope that Bren returns to the subject in another decade or two for a further assessment. Writing with flair and passion, Bren salutes the courage and talent of true groundbreakers.
An enthralling chronicle of how the first generation of women to work in New York City’s financial sector fought for equality…what sticks with readers will be the resourcefulness and resilience of Bren’s subjects…It’s a sharp look at the difficulties women faced breaking up Wall Street’s boys club.
