The rela­tion­ship between San­dra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bad­er Gins­burg — Repub­li­can and Demo­c­rat, Chris­t­ian and Jew, west­ern rancher’s daugh­ter and Brook­lyn girl — tran­scends par­ty, reli­gion, region, and cul­ture. Strength­ened by each other’s pres­ence, these ground­break­ing judges, the first and sec­ond to serve on the high­est court in the land, have trans­formed the Con­sti­tu­tion and Amer­i­ca itself, mak­ing it a more equal place for all women.

Lin­da Hirshman’s dual biog­ra­phy includes reveal­ing sto­ries of how these trail­blaz­ers fought for their own recog­ni­tion in a male-dom­i­nat­ed pro­fes­sion — bat­tles that would ulti­mate­ly ben­e­fit every Amer­i­can woman. She also makes clear how these two jus­tices have shaped the legal frame­work of mod­ern fem­i­nism, includ­ing employ­ment dis­crim­i­na­tion, abor­tion, affir­ma­tive action, sex­u­al harass­ment, and many oth­er issues cru­cial to women’s lives.

Sis­ters-in-Law com­bines legal detail with warm per­son­al anec­dotes that bring these very dif­fer­ent women into focus as nev­er before. Metic­u­lous­ly researched and com­pelling­ly told, it is an author­i­ta­tive account of our chang­ing law and cul­ture, and a mov­ing sto­ry of a remark­able friendship.