The natures and nuances of economic roles played by women in the early modern period in Western Europe has come under increasing—and fruitful—scrutiny in recent decades. Generally, this scrutiny has applied to women's productive and reproductive work both within and without the home, but in Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain's Financial Revolution, Amy M. Froide seeks to expand this examination to those women who were active in the purely financial realm in the early decades of public investing. To begin, she states in the book's introduction that its main purpose is exploring “Englishwomen's relationship to and role within financial capitalism in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries” (2). As Froide notes, the traditional view—although this view has undergone revision in recent decades—is that capitalism had a negative effect on women and that, moreover, capitalism had an effect on women, not vice versa. However, Froide argues that “the financial independence of unmarried women, as well as married women's right to separate property, allowed women to participate in and further England's Financial Revolution” (2). In this, women's activity was similar to their efforts in other ventures. Froide contends that because women were excluded from many economic avenues they were keen to take advantage of new sectors of the economy—including the investment opportunities provided by the establishment of the Bank of England, the East India Company, the South Sea Company, the Mine Adventurers Company, the York Buildings Company, and the national debt.

While these female investors shared some characteristics—particularly that they were willing and able to engage in this type of pursuit—Froide is committed to showing that “there was no such thing as a generic female investor” (3–4), and therefore provides a more nuanced picture of these female investors. This goal is evident in both the sources used for the study—a combination of records from the British government and the financial corporations themselves; newspapers, pamphlets, and periodicals; and personal papers, account books, and correspondence—and in how this evidence is employed. Froide is particularly adept at using case studies at the end of most chapters to illustrate the broader points elucidated by the book. Indeed, such an approach allows for both macro and micro views of how investing affected women individually and as a part of a larger group.

In chapter 3, for example, “Early Adopters: Women Investors in the Early Years of the Financial Revolution,” Froide examines the circumstances that characterized the early involvement of women in these investments, and also the varying social backgrounds and investment choices of these investors. In illustration, the three case studies featured in this chapter are those of Sarah Churchill (the rich and politically active Duchess of Marlborough), Martha Hutchins (the wife of a tradesman, though her husband does not appear to have influenced her investments), and Elizabeth Freke (a provincial gentlewoman who invested both with her husband and on her own, though her investments were controlled by him). Chapter 4, “Women as Investors for their Families,” features for its case study Mary Barwell, a lifelong single woman. Chapter 5, “Unmarried Women Investing for ‘Retirement,” features case studies of two pairs of sisters: Barbara and Gertrude Savile and Martha (also known as Patty) and Teresa Blount. The final chapter, chapter 7, features an extensive case study of the well-known Hester Pinney. Far from using these case studies as standalone examples for each chapter, Froide uses them to propel the book forward. At the end of chapter 3 Froide notes that “[a]ll three women were able to pass on vastly improved personal estates or wealth to their family members due to their adaptation to the new stock market. It is to women's investing for their families that we will now turn in the next chapter” (92). Similarly, chapter 4's case study of Mary Barwell (as noted, a single woman) sets the stage for chapter 5 (“an examination of unmarried women who invested in government securities for their retirement and old age” [117]). The overall effect is one of seamless argument and evidence, and further confirmation of just how integrated into the world of investment these women (and others) were.

Indeed, while it is understandable that Froide chose to title this book Silent Partners, what is clear from the evidence she presents and the case studies she explores is that although these female investors may have been ostensibly “silent,” in terms of influence their roles were significant. Indeed, women accounted for between one-fifth and one-third of investors in the Bank of England, joint-stock companies, and the national debt (209), and they often used this involvement to wield political influence. Bringing together as it does the intersecting issues of Britain's transition to capitalism and its resulting effects, the various investment opportunities afforded by this change, and women's roles within these opportunities, this meticulously researched, well-written, and engaging study offers significant appeal for historians of economics, society, women, and gender, as well as anyone keen to reflect on modern relationships to capitalism.