THIS ARTICLE on Maggie Anton has some interesting background on the author and the genesis of the books:
Author of 'Rashi's Daughters' to speak, sign books in Savannah on Jan. 23
Posted: January 22, 2012 - 12:03am
By Linda Sickler (Savannah Morning Herald)
Author Maggie Anton’s gift is taking little-known women from history and fleshing them out into strong, vibrant characters.
The author of the “Rashi’s Daughters” trilogy will be in Savannah on Monday.
“I lecture about the research and history behind my novels and sign books and sell them, too,” Anton says.
Though geared toward Jewish women, her novels — “Joheved,” “Miriam” and “Rachel” — are growing in popularity among men and readers of all faiths.
[...]
Here's part of the story, but there's more:
“The teacher [of her Talmud class] pointed out that Rashi had no sons, only daughters, who were reputedly learned,” Anton said. “I became intrigued and decided to do research for the fun of it.”
She found the names of Rashi’s daughters and evidence they were highly educated. “I discovered that France and northern Europe were part of the 12th century renaissance and that it was an incredibly enlightened time throughout Europe and the Arab world. Women had much higher status and a higher place in society and were more active than I ever expected.”
The research intensified, and “it was as if something possessed me,” Anton said. “I don’t even remember deciding I was going to write about these three women.”
Starting in 1997, she finished her first draft in 2000. “My goal was to write a book I wanted to read.”
“By that point, people knew I was doing this, and quite a few wanted to read it,” Anton said.
But by 2004, her agent still hadn’t sold the first novel, so Anton and her husband decided to start a small press and publish it themselves.
Background
here and links. And I have more posts on Rashi
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here, and
here. Not counting incidental mentions.