Author: Margot Lee Shetterly
Goodreads Summary: Set amid the civil rights movement, the never-before-told true story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America’s space program.
Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as ‘human computers’, calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Segregated from their white counterparts, these ‘colored computers’ used pencil and paper to write the equations that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.
Moving from World War II through NASA’s golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the women’s rights movement, Hidden Figures interweaves a rich history of mankind’s greatest adventure with the intimate stories of five courageous women whose work forever changed the world.
Rating: 3/5 stars
It's so frustrating to me to have to only give this book 3 stars, and I've decided to write a short review to explain this. I, like many others I assume, were quite charmed by the recent movie adaptation of this novel that came out recently and felt myself curious about the book it stemmed from. Although the incredible lives of those women are still on show here, I felt disappointed by the telling of it. It was dense with facts and overrun with quite dry and dull language that took away from my enjoyment. It feels ridiculous to say that the storytelling element was lacking because this was about real people, but their lives and achievements are part of a story and it could've been told in a more engaging way. Instead, it sometimes got lost in the details and history and threw the flow off.
In saying that, obviously, I did still like it. 3 stars is not a bad review. This book sheds light on the very important stories of these women who should not have been kept in the dark so long. I wanted to feel empowered and inspired by this book and Shetterly does offer some shining moments of prose that capture how incredible their achievements were that make you really feel that sense of admiration. As much as I wish the writing had not been so dry, I will still continue to recommend and appreciate this book for the importance of the story at it's core.
They are hidden figures no more!
- J, xxx
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