[Tomić's] work is welcome and long overdue…. Some 15 black-and-white figures, a 33-page bibliography (7 of primary works, 26 of secondary sources), a comprehensive index, detailed notes and references, and the numerous questions Tomić poses point to a wealth of possibilities for future research on this topic. Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty.
— Choice Reviews
Scholar and editor Svetlana Tomić has compiled a book outlining the selective, biased, and deliberate ignorance that Serbian critics and cultural gatekeepers have imposed on the biographies and achievements of Serbian women—making clear that women who were admired in their time truly deserve our attention today. This book will interest feminists, scholars of women’s history and writing, specialists in Slavic Studies, and general readers who will wonder why they haven’t heard of many of these accomplished and important figures.
— Sibelan Forrester, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore College
This book by Svetlana Tomić is an extraordinary example of research that introduces unknown personalities, stories, and documented history both in Serbian and in international feminist academic populations. Hence, the term ‘hidden’ in the title is fully justified. But the author also discovers the impressive lives of women—their strength and achievements in difficult times and difficult places. The result is women’s contribution to national culture, some daring avant-garde works, modernity, progressive thinking, and the official silence covering them ever since. The book also points to today’s Serbian cultural problems, based on the same patriarchal patterns and the historical setback in the 1990s and on.
— Svetlana Slapšak, professor of Classics, University of Ljubljana
In Serbian cultural reality, one may discover sporadic correspondences of forgotten or tacit sequences linked to women’s contributions to the national history and culture, where every contribution to this effort, especially if it is available to foreign readers, is a feat worth admiration. This book is here to fill in the voids and to emancipate the readers through the life and creative achievements of these selected women to tell an exciting story about the struggle and enlightenment and freedom.
— Gordana Stojaković, independent researcher
Tomić’s book is a timely intervention in the scholarship on women’s writing and art and is significant not only for Serbian cultural history but also for the entire Balkan region. Tomić makes a powerful case for the importance to recover from oblivion valuable knowledge about the women who played key roles on the Serbian cultural scene since the mid-1800s, when more educational and professional opportunities for women were created. Her clear writing style and compelling argumentation make this book a must-read for anyone interested in the forgotten voices of women in literature and art in Serbia and the wider Balkans.
— Mariya Chokova, Harvard University