The Only Woman in the Room, Pnina Lahav
The Only Woman in the Room, Pnina Lahav
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

The Only Woman in the Room
Golda Meir and Her Path to Power

Author: Pnina Lahav

Narrator: Suzanne Toren

Unabridged: 13 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 09/06/2022


Synopsis

A feminist biography of the only woman to become Prime Minister of IsraelIn this authoritative and empathetic biography, Pnina Lahav reexamines the life of Golda Meir (1898–1978) through a feminist lens, focusing on her recurring role as
a woman standing alone among men. The Only Woman in the Room is the first book to contend with Meir’s full identity as a woman, Jew, Zionist leader, and one of the founders of Israel, providing a richer portrait of her persona and legacy.

Meir, Lahav shows, deftly deflected misogyny as she traveled the path to becoming Israel’s fourth, and only female, prime minister, from 1969 to 1974.

Lahav revisits the youthful encounters that forged Meir’s passion for socialist Zionism and reassesses her decision to separate from her husband and leave her children in the care of others. Enduring humiliation and derision from her
colleagues, Meir nevertheless led in establishing Israel as a welfare state where social security, workers’ rights, and maternity leave became law. Lahav looks at the challenges that beset Meir’s premiership, particularly the disastrous Yom
Kippur War, which led to her resignation and withdrawal from politics, as well as Meir’s bitter duel with feminist and civil rights leader Shulamit Aloni, Meir’s complex relationship with the Israeli and American feminist movements, and the
politics that led her to distance herself from feminism altogether.

Exploring the tensions between Meir’s personal and political identities, The Only Woman in the Room provides a groundbreaking new account of Meir’s life while also illuminating the difficulties all women face as they try to ascend in male-dominated fields

Reviews

Goodreads review by Hermien on May 28, 2023

A good analysis of the life of a female politician and the compromises she had to make to make it in a man's world.......more

Goodreads review by Valectrice on August 18, 2024

I didn’t know a lot about Golda Meir’a early life, and it is these sections of Prina Lahav’s biography of the former Israeli prime minister that I found most interesting. The detail it Golda Meir’a childhood in Russia and the Unites States and her involvement in the Zionist movement in the US and in......more

Goodreads review by Tina on February 19, 2024

This book club pick was a timely selection providing some historical context to current heartbreaking events. Lahav writes a biography of Golda Meir with a feminist lens that provides focus. At times, attributing thinking and motives to gender were somewhat restrictive. The context for Zionism, the......more

Goodreads review by Susan on May 14, 2023

Pnina Lahav's lens on Golda Meir is through a prism we don't use enough when evaluating leaders past or present. Lahav takes us through Golda's life showing us how her gender and the biases of time, place and circumstance affect and permeate both her personal and professional decision making. Unders......more

Goodreads review by Robyn on January 28, 2025

Interesting read about a strong woman who stepped into difficult arenas. A little repetitive at times and I wish the part about how she got into politics was a little more robust. The impact she had on Israel and our world & international relations cannot be forgotten or ignored.......more