First published 2022
Donald Trump's 2016 victory leaves millions of Americans wondering how to resist his administration's policies. Across the country, women lawyers mobilize independently to fight back through the courts. Sally Yates, serving as Acting Attorney General, takes a stand against the Muslim travel ban. Becca Heller launches legal challenges to protect refugees. Commercial litigator Roberta Kaplan brings lawsuits against Charlottesville's neo-Nazis. Stacey Abrams works to safeguard voting rights in Georgia, efforts that may determine control of the Senate in 2020. Dahlia Lithwick chronicles how these attorneys and others spent four years marching, campaigning, and litigating to block the most chaotic presidency in recent history. While Trump, Mitch McConnell, and Republicans worked to install conservative judges, these women held the line through legal innovation and determination. Their battles unfold as they navigate a system under assault, fighting to preserve justice and democracy itself.
Genres: political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, law, activism, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resistance
Setting: Charlottesville, Georgia
Period: 2016, 2020
368 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press