"This book is highly recommended for its topic, approach, and new perspectives on women's wills in the Tudor epoch. James presents her views with clarity and at a welcome pace." - George Lazaroiu, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, NY, and Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Romania

"Does James succeed in allowing us access to the voices of ordinary women? The answer is yes, and with an extraordinary level of detail. Her desire to focus on women's common experience, however, introduces the idea of a more "universal" Tudor woman than some historians would be willing to accept. But the book should be read by everyone interested in women's voices, especially in this period. The great strength of James's book is the amount of knowledge she has so admirably extracted from her sources. Wills really are so much more than mere transfers of property." - Judith Spicksley, University of York, UK

"This is an important contribution that analyses an impressive body of data. James's investigation of women's wills sheds light on the concerns, preoccupations and activities of women in Tudor England and raises important new questions about gender and inheritance." - CHARMIAN MANSELL, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, UK