Sisters in Law

How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World

By: Linda Hirshman

Narrated by: Andrea Gallo

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the celebrated Victory tells the fascinating story of the intertwined lives of Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first and second women to serve as Supreme Court justices.

The relationship between Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, Western rancher's daughter and Brooklyn girl - transcends party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other's presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second women to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women.

Linda Hirshman's dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession - battles that would ultimately benefit every American woman. She also makes clear how these two justices have shaped the legal framework of modern feminism, including employment discrimination, abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and many other issues crucial to women's lives.

Sisters in Law combines legal detail with warm personal anecdotes that bring these very different women into focus as never before. Meticulously researched and compellingly told, it is an authoritative account of our changing law and culture and a moving story of a remarkable friendship.

©2015 Linda Hirshman (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Loved it!

My appreciation and awe of these two brilliant and hard working women has deepened beyond measure. The writer’s attention and detail of early experiences that helped shape and develop the justices dignity and led to their formulation of legal theory was both enlightening and enjoyable. I am so glad this book caught my eye. And I am honored to be a lawyer who entered into the field only a few decades after these two pioneering and remarkable sisters in law!

Insightful and thought-provoking

This is a new book out that was a perfect fit for my reading project of the Supreme Court. The author Linda Hirshman received her law degree and Ph.D. from University of Illinois at Chicago. She practiced law and appeared before the Supreme Court then became a law professor at Brandeis University. In 2002 she retired and now has become a well known author.

I have read biographies about both O’Connor and Ginsburg, but this book excels in portraying the enormous obstacles both women encountered by women attempting to enter the legal field. O’Connor and Ginsburg both attended top-tier law schools and graduated at the top of their respective classes. Nonetheless, both struggled to obtain their first professional jobs.

They were very different people, O’Connor the politician and Ginsburg the tactician and legal scholar, but they respected each other and frequently worked together on cases before the Court. Hirshman examines not just their role in reframing the culture of the Supreme Court and the tenor of some aspects of the law, but also their work on specific issues such as affirmative action and sex discrimination. The summary at the end was very depressing to me. To listen to a step by step list of the rights women have fought for being taken away, along with the rights regarding racial discrimination and voting. I guess I have lived long enough to go full circle and ended up where I started. It makes me depressed and angry. I have talked with some young women and they have no idea what we went through, so they now have the opportunity to enter most any professions they wish. They can now rent a car and have a credit card in their name; I could not when I was their age, only men had that right. Sexual and racial discrimination including harassment are on the increase lately as is anti-Semitism. I sure hope that people wake up and stop the eroding of the hard fought gains toward equality, but it sure looks discouraging. It may come about that these young women I talked with will need to fight for their rights all over again.

The book is superbly written and researched and is packed with information in an easy to read fashion. The book is written for both the layman and the scholar to enjoy. Andrea Gallo did a good job narrating the book.

Great history

Great history and insight into their decisions and their lives. regardless of political leanings, it's a great book.

A rehash of the Cameron & Knizhnik book.

Any additional comments?

I had read Cameron & Knizhnik's The Notorious RBG just before this and felt it was a much more thorough and interesting telling of Ginsburg's major contributions to this important aspect of our collective, recent history. Sisters In Law, however, does fill in how Sandra Day O'Connor fits into the Court's history as the first woman on the court.

Good, but these trailblazing women deserved great

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book, it was informative and educational, but a more careful edit would have made it better. The back and forth between the two justices was sometimes jarring.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The totally bald-faced accepted normal discrimination that they faced. A close 2nd, how patronizing many of the SC justices are.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator had a tendency to change her voice as if she was doing characters, it was unpleasant.

Did Sisters in Law inspire you to do anything?

Reaffirm how far women have come and how much more must be done!

Like a legal thriller

This book was enthralling. Both amazing women in American history. Learning how their positions were shaped was most fascinating. I had the privilege of meeting Sandra Day O'Connor last year and this book has added a richness to the meeting. I distinctly recall when Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nominated for a SCJ. Exciting, engaging, and detailed.

A must read for fans of nonfiction

Really well written history of two very important women in the history of the United States. Linda Hirshman is a lawyer herself, so she has the writing skills to skillfully present the material in an organized and easy to understand way. I've always been interested in the Supreme Court, but I learned a lot about the legal history of women's rights and the two justices' personal lives. RBG is queen of everything, but it was fascinating getting to know O'Connor better. She's an interesting woman. Shaking my head at some of the male justices though. Learning more about them did not endear me to them.

Andrea Gallo is a competent narrator and her voice and delivery never bothered me. I think it would be hard to have a stand out narration with this kind of book, but she was pretty great.

New perspective to existing conversation

Any additional comments?

This book is a good addition to an existing conversation about the two justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It brings a new analysis to the backgrounds and effect on women of each. However, if you are new to the conversation yourself - as I was - you may want to start elsewhere. The organization is jumpy and the references often incomplete, as if you are supposed to have the necessary background information already.

Sentence structure is sometimes difficult to follow, but I am unsure if that is due to the writing or the narration.

It was an interesting read but not as much of a joy as it could have been.

Inspiring and frustrating

This is a compelling and revealing description of how the Supreme Court works and how slowly and painfully women’s rights have evolved. I’m inspired by the Intelligence, courage, persistence and savvy of Justice O’Connor and Justice Ginsberg. I’m frustrated that men in power can still be so blind to the experiences of women and other marginalized people and are trying to roll back the achievements in equality. This should be required reading for young people who take for granted their civil rights and don’t realize how at risk they are.

Too much legalese. Dry.

Lots of flashbacks, hard to follow in that regard. I learned that nothing is really “settled” in the law. Endless appeals. Learned that the military tried to force an enlisted woman to get an abortion! But the case took so long to get to court, the SC decided not to hear the car, so it was never ruled on. That’s pertinent now, because if it’s in the best interest of the government for a woman to be forced to carry a fetus to term, then it can also force women to abort a wanted fetus if it’s in the government’s best interest. I still don’t understand what RBG’s stance was on abortion, other than she didn’t like the trimester decision. What DID she think? That’s why I bought the book.