Women on War: An International Anthology of Writings from to Present (review)

Surely the whole world grieves for us right now. And surely it also hopes we might have learned, from the taste of our own blood, that every war is both won and lost, and that loss is a pure, high note of anguish like a mother singing to an empty bed.

(Barbara Kingsolver, 88)

Women on War, edited by Daniela Gioseffi, is a compilation of poetry and prose writings that speak to the universal truth of war's destructive power. What makes this work unique is that it uses women's words to reveal the specific effect wars have on the female experience. The anthology is neatly organized into sections ranging from writings on prophecies and warnings to violence and mourning to hope and survival. Each section draws on a wealth of women's writings spanning geographical regions as well as time periods. In the section on prophecy and warnings, the reader can find writings from Enheduanna of ancient Sumeria to present-day authors such as Theresa Hitchens and Arundhati Roy. Each section is organized according to the birthdates of the authors. This chronological type of organization underscores the notion of a universal, timeless experience.

Gioseffi, in this second edition, has added an enormous amount of new material to her book, updating it following the post-September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The book offers a rich testimony to the similarity of women's experiences with war that transcend time, space, and cultures. Each entry rings out with power, tragedy, and, at times, hope. The writings reveal women's perceptions on the nature of war and give voice to women's direct experiences in war from victims of rape to resistance fighters to peace activists. What ties all of these entries together is the overwhelming feeling of the utter uselessness of warfare, its senselessness, its filth, and the human wreckage left in its wake. No reader could walk away unmoved by Maria Rosa Henson's account of how she, as a 15-year-old girl, was brutally, repeatedly raped as a "comfort woman" by Japanese soldiers occupying the Philippines. Nor could a reader leave Ruth Rosen's essay without imagining all of the everyday possibilities of terror. What also binds the anthology together, surprisingly, is the beauty of the human spirit and its ability to continue to hope: to hope for a better world, to hope for peace, to hope that wars will someday become obsolete. This is particularly underscored in Holocaust survivor Ruth Kluger's entry, where she explores the nature of hope, fear, and survival, in which she relates "all human stories are about terror and joy" (309).

Women on War is an excellent resource for any instructor wishing to raise student awareness that for centuries women have been recognized as potential casualties of war, yet few women's opinions and experiences were collected and given their own unfettered voice. The collection is superb in that it incorporates women from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and ages. It offers the reader a substantial and impressive bibliography and even a website location for further resources. This would be a wonderful addition to any course reading list that challenges students to be more aware of the world around them, of the terrors and joys that surround them, and of their potential as individuals to work to lessen the terrors and to increase the joys of life. This collection teaches us that it will only be through the work of individuals that we will live in a world where fewer mothers sing to empty beds.