If it takes about a hundred years fully to receive a council, as Pope Francis stated in an interview before closing the Year of Mercy in 2016 (p. 565), then we are lucky that it has ‘only’ taken about half a century for the women at Vatican II to become the focus of extensive academic research and conciliar reception. This extremely well researched book convincingly shows the presence of the other, forgotten since female, half of Catholic Christians (p. 364) at this seminal event. It fills a yawning gap in Vatican II research, where the few studies on laity (though none of them gives attention to gender) or ecumenical observers take second place, and hardly any studies on women and Vatican II exist. Only five pages (pp. 35–40) suffice to describe the latter. The two editors enrolled mainly, but not exclusively, women to write on this topic. In particular Regina Heyder contributed a considerable part of the content herself. The book consists of three main parts: petitions to the council by individual women, women's associations and women in convents (pp. 49–354), reports from Rome during the council by women who were actively involved in the council as hosts, auditors, reporters etc. (pp. 357–61), and women's reception of the council back home (pp. 565–639). These three parts are followed by photographs (pp. 642–57) and a comprehensive list of sources and secondary literature. The letters and documents are each provided in a meticulous edition in their original language, always stating the archives or sources from which they come. Initiatives of women in Germany, Austria and Switzerland but also by the World Union of Catholic women's organisations, St Joan's International Alliance and the Ecumenical Women's Conference in 1965 in Vicarello are documented. At Vatican II itself the topic of ‘women’ only emerged when the relation of Church and world was discussed and female auditors were ushered in from 1964 onwards, a novum in conciliar history. The general perception was then that a new era was dawning for women in the Catholic Church. As the two editors point out in their preface, quoting Sr Mary Luke Tobin: ‘The Council was a door wide open – too wide to be closed again’ (p. 5). Was it really? Was the door not just ajar? The high-flying expectations had to be tuned down after the council, as the selection of thwarted expectations, like inclusive language, shows (part iii). The book can be used as a source collection or read as an historical overview of women's initiatives regarding Vatican II. The descriptive sections are easily readable and well documented. One shortcoming, however, is that the work does not acknowledge its limitations which are its Eurocentric, mainly German-speaking perspective. It claims to address the topic on a global scale, when hinting at the expectations of women on the Indian subcontinent (p. 565) or the thrust of possible petitions from African women regarding polygamy. Despite this, the book is highly recommended, a must-read for all who seek an equitable and open-minded reception of Vatican II.