Headscarves and Hymens, 2015, is an elaboration of the article named “Why Do They Hate Us?” written in April 2012 by an Egyptian American activist, writer, author, journalist and feminist icon Mona ElTahawy.
Read More
Her pre-war feminist masterpiece South Riding has never been out of print, but Winifred Holtby can nevertheless be considered a criminally undervalued author. Marion Shaw, a professor of English, has done an excellent job of raising awareness for this exemplary woman in her revealing biography The Clear Stream.
Read More
When a mother loses her child, does she stop being a mother? When a woman finds a child, does she become a mother? This is the premise of Empty Houses (Casas Vacías), by Mexican writer Brenda Navarro. In an intense storytelling style where we only know inner narration by two characters, every preconception we may have about motherhood is thrown out the window.
Read More
There have been young people advocating for the environment for decades, but I think we can all agree that by far, the one that has gotten the most media attention is Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. So much so that she has managed to mobilize millions of people to strike for the climate, which has completely shifted the Overton window when it comes to environmental policy discussion.
Read More
Earthlings is a horror story. It’s important to establish this first for anyone who opens the pages on the basis of having read Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata’s debut – or even the cute cover which consists of a soft toy floating in space.
Read More
The Censorettes were a group of talented women who were scouted by the British military to intercept mail going between North America and Europe. They were responsible for combing through thousands, if not more, of letters and correspondences. Censorettes may be fiction, but it is based on actual events that occurred in Bermuda in World War II. If you love historical fiction as much as I do, it’s worth the read.
Read More
Wuthering Heights takes place in the moorlands of Yorkshire, England. It is a story of revenge and of love and features stark moments of cruelty and sexual passion. It also puts into question the strict Victorian moral values and ideals of the time as well as puts into question women’s traditional role in society in the 19th century.
Read More
Lilith Book Club is an anglophone book club in Paris focusing on feminist/LGBTQI texts. They have graciously joined our team of contributors, and are sharing their review of their September book club session, A Theatre for Dreamers by Polly Samson.
Read More
What makes this book a sheer delight is that Bordo not only covers the scholarly issues surrounding Anne but in the second segment gives vent to her emotions in a lengthy description of Anne Boleyn's image in non-fiction and plays, TV series, and films, and now perpetuated in cult groups on Facebook.
Read More
Displacement by Kiku Hughes blends history and sci-fi to discuss Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II.
Read More
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri revolves around the Ganguli’s, a Bengali family who immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. The novel begins with the young couple, Ashoke and Ashima, who were the first to arrive in the country, and continues to follow the lives of their children. The book focuses mostly on Ashoke and Ashima’s firstborn, a son named Gogol.
Read More
The storyline of His Only Wife may feel problematic in terms of feminism and women empowerment, but I strongly urge you to read the book before you judge it. It’s not just your typical love triangle. It’s much more complicated (as if love triangles aren’t already complicated enough), and it’s not as demeaning to women as you read it.
Read More
A Room of One’s Own was such a progressive book that it doesn’t fit any of the existing genres of its time. It showcases the author’s raw frustration and indignation as she reflects upon the role of women compared to that of men throughout history and in her everyday reality.
Read More
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen María Machado, is a collection of short stories that show how being a woman can be a story of terror.
Read More
This book discusses the history of racism, the role that Britain played in the enslaved people's trade, racial injustices today, why white feminism is not inclusive, class struggle, and the far right in the UK.
Read More
This memoir questions this separation and is an exploration of Samra, finding her identity within both of these places. Throughout her story, we are faced with the hardships that Samra went through to get to her most authentic self. Her trials are full of grace for herself as this memoir is a love letter to her younger self, but it also shows grace to those who were not always on her side.
Read More
Contemporary feminists make the mistake of criticising Eliot's harsh portrayal of both men and women, but if you respect the fact that she was writing in an age when women were forced to take a back seat in a decidedly patriarchal world, and if you scrutinise her subtle feminist subtext, forgiving her in the process for the moralist Victorian undertones, you realise what a pioneer of women's rights and liberal reforms she really was.
Read More
While this novel is fictional, you are confronted with uncomfortable conversations white people have about race that you may have participated in or overheard yourself. The way the author approaches the topic is well done and leads the reader to self-reflect.
Read More
LOTE is the dazzling debut novel from Scottish author Shola Von Reinhold, which I came across by chance during lockdown. Initially drawn to the beautiful artwork and a fascinating plot outline, I got much more out of reading LOTE than I could ever have imagined. “Enriching” is an understatement.
Read More
Kindred was written by Octavia E. Butler and published in 1979. It was easily one of my favorite books from 2019 and I’m constantly recommending it to friends. This is science fiction meets feminism meets racial discrimination and life for Black women on a plantation in the South in the 19th century.
Read More