Daisy Dunn is the author of the new book The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World. Her other books include The Shadow of Vesuvius. She lives in London.
Q: What inspired you to write The Missing Thread, and how was the book’s title chosen?
A: I was struck by the fact that all of the existing histories of the ancient world on my bookshelves were populated by men with just a few women sprinkled in here and there.
I thought to myself, surely women contributed to the creation of ancient history as we know it! What were they doing for those thousands of years? I was eager to put them back into the narrative.
After I’d started researching the book I observed a proliferation of publications about fictional women in the ancient world. Bookshop tables are still piled high with feminist retellings.
It seemed strange to me that there should be so many novels about mythological women and so few works of nonfiction placing real, historical women at their heart. I realised that these women were the thread that was missing from traditional histories of the ancient world.
And what did these women have in common? They all learned to weave. Many of them were as talented at weaving stories as they were tapestries and clothes.
Q: Of the various women you write about, are there some that particularly intrigued you?
A: There were so many women who intrigued me.
I was fascinated by Telesilla, a poet who leapt to the defence of her native city of Argos in Greece when it was invaded. It wasn’t usually the done thing for women to go about picking up weapons and arming each other, but Telesilla was so admired for doing so that she was commemorated with statuary – a rare thing for a woman in the ancient world.
Another woman who was commemorated with the same was Cornelia, who lived in the Roman Republic. Her immense learning and status as the mother of two seminal politicians, the Gracchi brothers, brought her fame. But there was clearly something else about her personality that endeared her to the broader Roman people, by no means all of whom supported her sons.
Q: The Independent’s review of the book says, “Dunn’s spirited work not only puts the overlooked women at the core of the narrative, but it also reminds us that the past, particularly with sexism and misogyny, has vital lessons for the 21st-century present.” What do you think of that description?
A: I was delighted to learn that The Independent newspaper chose The Missing Thread as one of the 20 best books of 2024.
I think the reviewer really captured the fact that many of the problems that plagued the past are still alive today. The contributions of women in the ancient world were routinely overlooked and underplayed. Women may be more visible today but they are often similarly sidelined.
For example, in my own world, studies routinely show that male shoppers tend to shun books written by women in favour of buying books written by other men. This may not be intentional but it’s a fact. This is just one of many areas in which we’ve failed to move forward as much as we sometimes think we have.
Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: I’ve distilled about 15 years of research into the book. Of course I’ve written other books in the meantime, but the idea for this book had been swirling in my mind for ages.
The first thing I did when I finally sat down to work on The Missing Thread was to go back and reread every ancient Greek and Latin text I’d ever read. I was surprised by how many fleeting references to women in works of history and literature had passed by me by in spite of multiple re-reads over the years.
I did the same thing by poring over other types of evidence, especially archaeological, so as to come at the subject from multiple angles.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’ve had a busy season of book festivals and talks for The Missing Thread, with some more events to come this spring, but I shall be focussing on editing the May issue of ARGO: A Hellenic Review, the Greek culture magazine I edit for the Hellenic Society, and working on a new book I have in the pipeline…
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: While I spend a lot of time reading Greek and Latin texts and books about the ancient world, I also have a keen interest in art. I did a Masters in Titian and Italian Renaissance art some years ago.
As for my personal reading, it’s as far away from both as you can imagine. I can’t read anything remotely related to the ancient world in bed – it’s the opposite of switching off for me. Instead I read a lot of Modernist literature, and also poetry.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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