Klara Naszkowska, ed., Early Women Psychoanalysts, London: Routledge, 2024

This review essay follows the life stories of the lesser-known (mainly Jewish) women who were instrumental in spreading psychoanalytic ideas and in the founding of the Russian, Polish, French, Hungarian and British societies as collected in: Klara Naszkowska (ed.), Early Women Psychoanalysts (London: Routledge, 2024). It analyses their theoretical innovations and social contribution, their challenges as both women and Jews, and the importance of their unique perspective, often only picked up on decades after their lives. From addressing maternal disappointment, childhood trauma and identity formation to coining terms like the talking cure and upturning what was known of narcissism, these women blazed a trail, but were somehow forgotten. The review essay also calls for contextualising the work and life of the more famous celebrated female analysts, such as Klein and Deutsch, within this group of early women psychoanalysts, pointing to how typical their experiences were, and what set many of the women in the book up for success: commitment to the good of society, immigration, mentorship and often, sadly, removing themselves from difficult home situations.