"Julia Cooke’s stunning book reclaims a heritage for narrative non-fiction, war and travel writing that influenced those who, wiping it out, would claim to have invented it. It is a beautifully written account of the wild lives and work of West, Gellhorn and Hahn, weaving their achievements into their context in a way which makes them seem all the more extraordinary. Starry and Restless is an exciting, fascinating and indispensable contribution to the story of 20th century writing."

—Anna Funder, author of Wifedom

"Starry and Restless begins with a gun hidden beneath a rumpled dress and takes off from there—across continents, through wars, and into uncharted territory. This richly narrated triple-threat biography, which reads like historical fiction, has reclaimed three brave and restless women who might otherwise have been lost to history. Alive with urgency, and so vivid it nearly breathes, you can't help but think of its relevance during these troubling times." 

—Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain On Fire

"In a rollicking tale of three intrepid female correspondents, Julia Cooke takes readers on a thrilling journey—from clandestine meetings with Chinese rebels in the red-light district of prewar Shanghai to the scrappy Madrid hotel where journalists stockpiled hams and sheltered from bombings, and beyond. We see what it took for these brave women who covered conflicts around the world to fend off societal pressures and willfully, sometimes recklessly, always resourcefully, forge their own way."

—Julie Satow, author of When Women Ran Fifth Avenue 

“If your image of the foreign correspondent of the 1930s and ’40s is a man with a fedora and a cigar, think again. And if your image of the New Journalism is something first created by Tom Wolfe and his imitators decades later, think again there too. Julia Cooke gives us a lively introduction to three remarkable women—Rebecca West, Emily Hahn, and Martha Gellhorn—who each played an underappreciated role in reinventing nonfiction storytelling.”
—Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight

Coming in February 2026 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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