Book suggestion needed: biography of a contemporary woman

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I’d love to hear suggestions for a book to give as a gift to an elderly friend in Switzerland. She enjoys reading biographies, most recently Hillary Clinton’s. I’m thinking of Katharine Graham’s autobiography, but would welcome other ideas. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>It’s not new but it’s a great read about an amazing woman: Evelyn Fox Keller’s book (1983) A feeling for the organism–about Nobel Prize winner Barbara McClintock.</p>

<p>I liked Katharine Graham’s autobiography.</p>

3

<p>Jill Ker Conway, The Road from Coorain and True North. Conway is an Australian, grew up on a wind-swept farm, came to Harvard to do a Ph.D. in history, became the president of Smith College. The first book describes her childhood and life until she graduated from college; the second is her life in North America (the US and Canada).</p>

4

<p>I second that, but I’d get all three volumes.</p>

5

<p>She might enjoy “Them: A Memoir of Parents” by Francine Du Plessix Gray. </p>

<p>The mother was a Russian beatuy who inspired the great Russian poet Mayakovsy, the stepfather a Russian artist. They met as </p>

6

<p>Great suggestions - thanks everyone. I’ll see if I can find any of these at the bookstore this weekend.</p>

7

<p>I agree about The Road from Coorain but I didn’t like True North nearly as well.</p>