And Eve spoke to them . . . I did not let God's punishment destroy me. Take hold of your destinies, no matter the cost. Only then do I call you my daughters. So be it. they replied. Linked by lot and tradition, five ancient women tell their stories. Nitocris, an Egyptian queen born to be Pharaoh. But could a woman rule when the Old Kingdom was crumbling and petty noblemen were feuding? When her brother and consort, Neferkare, is murdered, Nitocris risks all to avenge his death. Bathsheba, wife of King David, Mother of Solomon and ancestress of Jesus of Nazareth, bathed on a roof and caused David to sin against his God. Some have called her wanton, others reckless, but was she simply a daughter of Eve, taking hold of her destiny? Dervorgilla de Baliol was the daughter of the last Celtic lord of Galloway, wife of the Norman duke, John de Baliol, mother of a king of Scotland and founder of Baliol College, Oxford. For over twenty years, she carried her husband's heart in a small ivory and silver casket, calling it her 'silent companion.' Was this devotion that even death could not diminish, or was there another reason? Cristine de Pisan, an early Renaissance poet and writer, was an impoverished widow at twenty-five with five mouths to feed. She took up her pen and became well-known throughout the courts of Europe not merely because her work had merit but because a woman poet was an oddity. She was the first woman to write about issues, such as widowhood and rape; things affecting women of her day; things that affect women today. Artemisia Gentileschi, the Baroque artist, drew women bigger than life with passions to fit; still, her grave is unmarked and until the last quarter of the 20th century her work was ascribed to her father and lesser artists of her day. At seventeen, she was raped by a friend of her father's and endured a papal trial to satisfy her father's honor. The whole sordid affair including false testimony by strangers and some she considered friends had a profound influence on her life and her work. But she took hold of her destiny and proved herself a true daughter of Eve. Daughters of Eve is Her-Story. His-story is already well-documented, and if women have made the annals of history, they have been viewed and judged from a male perspective. Nitocris, Bathsheba, Dervorgilla, Christine and Artemisia, true to their heritage as Daughters of Eve, reach through the ages. They touch our lives and they set their records straight. Daughters of Eve is of her-storical importance.