Seven books about the making & unmaking of women politicians

Heidi Pitlor is the author of the novels The Birthdays, The Daylight Marriage, which was optioned for film, and Impersonation.

[The Page 69 Test: The Daylight Marriage; My Book, the Movie: The Daylight Marriage; Q&A with Heidi Pitlor.]

A former senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pitlor has been the series editor of The Best American Short Stories since 2007. She is also the editorial director of the literary studio, Plympton. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Lit Hub, Ploughshares, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere. She lives outside Boston.

At Electric Lit, Pitlor tagged seven books about women in government managing their public image, including:

When Women Win: Emily’s List and the Rise of Women in American Politics by Ellen R. Malcolm and Craig Unger

How are women groomed to run for and win campaigns? This fascinating book traces the inception and rise of Emily’s List, an organization whose goal is to help get women, like Elizabeth Warren, elected to public office.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue