Malta: Women, History, Books and Places

Another title in the Women, History, Books and Places series by Susanna Hoe.

A vibrant, female-focused history of Malta and Gozo that sheds light on the overlooked lives of women across 7,000 years of Mediterranean civilisation.

From prehistoric Sicilian farmers to Phoenician traders, Arab settlers, and European aristocrats, this compelling book traces the evolution of Maltese identity through the lens of the women who lived, worked, ruled—and sometimes resisted—across the islands. Among them: Maria de Dominici, Malta’s first known female artist and namesake of a crater on Mercury; Agatha Barbara, the first female President of Malta; and Mabel Strickland, pioneering journalist and newspaper proprietor.

But beyond the well-known names, Malta: Women, History, Books and Places uncovers the forgotten stories of witches, nobles, nurses, shopkeepers, travellers, and teachers. From Betta Caloiro, who died in the Inquisitor’s prison at 89, to Marchesa Bettina Dorell in her grand Gudja palazzo, the book reconstructs a diverse and surprising female narrative, rich with resilience and cultural complexity.

British women—Emma Hamilton, Florence Nightingale, Hester Stanhope, and Vera Brittain—also appear, arriving in Malta during and after the French Revolutionary period. Many stayed, leaving their mark in roles ranging from governors' wives to hotel owners.

Told through women’s voices and sourced from archaeology, memoir, travel writing, and literature, this book is both a historical journey and a cultural guide, complete with itineraries to visit key sites across the islands.

For readers of The Island of Missing Trees, The Shadow King, and A House in Sicily, this is a deeply researched, evocative celebration of women’s history in Malta.