IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE

Profiles of “ten bold and courageous women with ten important lessons to teach us.”

Haley’s latest book is a refreshing change from her previous tepid, partisan books. The author discusses the lives of women who have inspired her in her roles as South Carolina governor and as ambassador to the United Nations. The title comes from a quote from Margaret Thatcher: “If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.” Some of the women the author highlights are well known—Thatcher, Golda Meir, Amelia Earhart—and Haley applauds their determination to overcome significant obstacles. At the real heart of the book, however, are the women who led quite ordinary lives until driven to take a public role. Cindy Warmbier became a vocal critic of North Korea after her son was unjustly arrested there and later killed. Her actions eventually led to the nation being redesignated as a state sponsor of terrorism. Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman, escaped enslavement by the Islamic State group. (For more on her incredible story, check out her memoir, The Last Girl.) Virginia Walden Ford pushed for greater parental choice in education and for a scholarship program to assist disadvantaged students. Claudette Colvin was a civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus months before Rosa Parks. As the daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley understands discrimination. Virginia Hall worked as a spy for the French Resistance during World War II, and Wilma Rudolph overcame a polio-induced disability to become a champion runner. The connecting thread is the willingness to act for one’s beliefs, even if there are plenty of gainsayers and roadblocks along the way. “Your potential is limitless,” writes the author, speaking to women in particular. “Your life—the life you want—is worth fighting for. So, fight.”

An inspiring collection that could lead to further study of these remarkable historical figures.