Eve

A page-turning whistle-stop tour of mammalian development that begins in the Jurassic Era, Eve recasts the traditional story of evolutionary biology by placing women at its center … The book is engaging, playful, erudite, discursive and rich with detail * New York Times *Such a rare book: scholarly, funny, accessible and very important. A truly original history of humans that explains so much of who we are today – Chris van Tulleken, author of ULTRA-PROCESSED PEOPLE[Cat Bohannon] is revolutionising our understanding of the human body with her female-centric history of the species. A hugely ambitious piece of work, and one that doesn’t pull its punches … character and storytelling are clearly second nature to Bohannon … It’s a book that’s packed full of surprising revelations * Guardian *An epic combination of science and speculation that places women at the centre of history – ObserverA smart, funny, scientific deep-dive into the power of a woman’s body, Eve surprises, educates, and emboldens. Who runs the world? Girls! – Bonnie Garmus, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRYA vast and revolutionary history of female evolution … [Eve] is a gripping, lyrical tale of female suffering, of remarkable resilience, of the lengths we will go to to survive and to protect our young. It makes being a woman seem truly extraordinary – Laura Hackett * Sunday Times *Utterly fascinating. This book should revolutionise our understanding of human life. It is set to become a classic – George Monbiot, author of REGENESISI’m obsessed with EVE by Cat Bohannon. Riveting, jaw-dropping, hilarious, exciting, enraging and deeply, deeply refreshing. Bohannon presents cutting-edge science with glittering sensory detail, awe-inspiring story-telling, and a genius and often poetic turn of phrase. I will never forget her description of animals as “essentially lumpy donuts filled with ocean.” I loved the real talk about giving birth to live babies and the reality of gestation and motherhood. So clever, so necessary, so funny. Finally, Eve’s story is here and Bohannon’s remarkable and gripping telling will change the world – Lucy Jones, author of MATRESCENCEA rollicking, bollocking, subversive counter-history, telling at last the story of the human mainstream instead of (as other histories do) the male-edited, male-glorifying sidelines. And it does it all with forgiveness and good grace and great dollops of humour. Marvellous and downright necessary. – Charles Foster, author of CRY OF THE WILDEve was immeasurably useful to me in my life-long quest to understand my own body. I highly recommend it to anyone who is on the same journey. – Hope Jahren, author of LAB GIRL and STORY OF MORE

Cat Bohannon is a researcher and author with a PhD from Columbia University in the evolution of narrative and cognition. Her essays and poems have appeared in Scientific American, Mind, Science Magazine, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, The Georgia Review, The Story Collider and Poets Against the War. She lives in the US with her partner and two offspring.