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This compelling graphic collection features 18 women - including Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Anne Lister, and more - and asks a simple question: in a time when being a woman writer often meant being undervalued, overlooked, or pigeonholed, why did she write?Why did Jane Austen struggle to write for five years before her first novel was ever published? How did Edith Maude Eaton's writing change the narrative around Chinese immigrant workers in North America? Why did the Bronte sisters choose to write under male pennames, and Anne Lister write her personal diaries in code?Learn about women writers from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, from familiar favorites to those who have undeservedly fallen into obscurity, and their often untold histories, including:* The forgotten mother of the gothic genre* The unexpected success of Little Women* The diaries of the "first modern lesbian"* The lawsuit to protect Little Lord Fauntleroy* The personal account of a mastectomy in 1811* Austen's struggles with writer's block* And much, much more!Why She Wrote highlights a significant moment from each writer's life and retells it through engaging and accessible comics, along with biographical text, bibliographies, and fun facts.