Rose George notes in the acknowledgements of Nine Pints that a book about Blood evolved from a desire to write about periods in depth. This nugget reveals much about the book since the two chapters dedicated to menstrual blood and the current state of products accessible to women, are the most readable two chapters of the book.

I had high expectations of a book about blood—especially after Bill Gates’ resounding endorsement of the book—awaiting enlightenment on the many wonders of this literal life giving fluid and a description of the state of the art on blood technology and where it’s headed. But Ms. George’s book fell well short of these.

Ms. George draws on the book’s title from the average volume of blood in an adult woman’s body and befitting that fact, the book’s contents are organized into nine chapters, each exploring a facet of blood, it’s history, perceptions through history and current state. 

Through these varied excursions—from leeches used in phlebotomy to HIV to hemophilia to the commercial machinery behind today’s blood business, we’re introduced to several interesting facts as well as factoids about blood. Ms. George was clearly motivated to write this elaborately researched book, reading extensively and traveling around the globe, but she is unable to weave all of the material into a captivating read: the kind you hate to put down, even when it’s about science. Instead, her narrative style is rambling and her digressions feel entirely disconnected to the theme of the chapter. Added to this, is her tendency to belabor a point with far more examples, especially historical anecdotes and quotes, than benefit the subject. The result feels like being led down the tortuous paths which her own preparatory excursions for the book had taken rather than an elegant distillation of her findings. 

The exceptions to this are the aforementioned chapters on menstruation. Ms. George is perhaps most passionate about this aspect of blood—understandably given her own debilitating PMDD affliction and also the insufficient attention given to dealing with circumstances affecting half the world’s population. Those two chapters evoke much needed outrage at the historical misunderstanding of the subject and the consequent mistreatment of menstruating women through the ages, as well as the current state of affairs that leaves impoverished women victimized by outdated social norms and without access to basic resources to deal hygienically with menses.