Mini Review – milk and honey by Rupi Kaur

July 10, 2016July 10, 2016 ~ fionareads ~ Leave a comment

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milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose.

Rupi Kaur has achieved a mean feat with this book – it is the first and only book of poetry I have read from start to finish. It captivated me. It was effortless, unapologetic, strong, feminist and empowering.

It is extremely difficult to try and review this book because every single poem is so personal, and tender, and significant in its own unique way. If you only read one book of poetry in your entire life, I urge you to read this one. It is such a sad, amazing and heartbreaking little book. It touches on all aspects and potential experiences of womanhood, through the form of a break-up – abuse, femininity, inner strength, insecurity, love, and grief.

‘You have sadness living in places sadness shouldn’t live.’

Rupi Kaur’s words are written for her – this is obvious in every line, every utterance, every chapter of the book, as her poetry develops and grows and heals and remembers. But it also manages to make you feel something powerful yourself – her stories are amazingly relateable, and her poetry is addictive, thought-provoking, and very, very personal.

My 3 Favourite Books About Feminism

May 21, 2016May 19, 2020 ~ fionareads ~ 2 Comments

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

‘When, however, one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs, or even of a very remarkable man who had a mother, then I think we are on the track of a lost novelist, a suppressed poet, of some mute and inglorious Jane Austen, some Emily Bronte who dashed her brains out on the moor or mopped and mowed about the highways crazed with the torture that her gift had put her to. Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.’

Every single woman should read this. I originally read it whilst studying for my Literature degree, and as a writer myself, it struck a chord and her words have stayed with me, always. It is the essence of Virginia Woolf herself, and I turn to it when I feel rejected, downtrodden, or if I begin to doubt that my work is good enough. This is Woolf’s homage to the spirit of heroines in history who may have written poems, novels, plays, stories, songs and ballads but were forced to remain anonymous as it was unacceptable for women to write. What if Shakespeare had an equally talented sister, but she could never have been as successful as Shakespeare himself because she was a woman, and woman were not allowed to write? She ends the essay by urging women and men to pick up their pen and write, and to banish the limits of gender identity and write with an androgynous mind instead.

The Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard

Women have made huge strides in equality over the last century. And feminism is now generally considered irrelevant, or old-fashioned, or even embarrassing. But what about the fact that today women working full-time in the UK are paid on average 17% less an hour than men? That one in three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused because of her gender?

This book is a few years old now, but is still one of the best books I’ve read about feminism today and the history of. The statistics and research are solid, and it explores the position of women in the UK in areas such as education, work, domestic violence, body image, sex and abortion rights. It’s entirely relevant and written concisely, cleverly and clearly. It’s a really good read, especially if you’re new to identifying as a feminist. It’s a great starter book and Banyard explains everything from grassroots feminism to current day, and how basically every single area of women’s lives are still affected by casual, deep-seated sexism. It’s the perfect book to get you really thinking about modern day feminism, and makes you realise that sexism is not dead. Banyard describes this idea that sexism no longer exists in our society as the ‘Equality Illusion’. This book is an invaluable feminist manifesto for the women of today.

Sisterhood Interrupted by Deborah Siegel

Contrary to clichés about the end of feminism, Deborah Siegel argues that younger women are reliving the battles of its past, and reinventing it–with a vengeance. From feminist blogging to the popularity of the WNBA, girl culture is on the rise. A lively and compelling look back at the framing of one of the most contentious social movements of our time, Sisterhood, Interrupted exposes the key issues still at stake, outlining how a twenty-first century feminist can reconcile the personal with the political and combat long-standing inequalities that continue today.

I found this book hugely helpful in sorting out all the confused and conflicting stereotypes I may have absorbed about feminism. It’s a great summary of second and third wave feminism and it gave me the knowledge to confidently explain the history of feminism to those who question the word and what it means. It lays out the history of the movement, covering the important events of the 60’s and 70’s, and continuing to present day. The most important thing I learned from this book is that feminism has never been a single, united force as some believe. It explains the entirety of the issues that have existed within feminism itself – the internal conflict over which fights are worth fighting, the best methods to coerce change, and what feminism actually means. There is no one type of feminism, and it isn’t about one single point of view all women who claim the label ‘feminist’ share. This book really teaches you that there are many different kinds of feminism, and that it’s okay to find your own place within the movement.

Book Review – The Hourglass Factory

June 1, 2015June 24, 2015 ~ fionareads ~ Leave a comment

The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester
Published: January 15th 2015 by Simon & Schuster Ltd
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Feminism
Pages: 504
Source: Goodreads

The year is 1912 and London is in turmoil…

The suffragette movement is reaching fever pitch but for broke Fleet Street tomboy Frankie George, just getting by in the cut-throat world of newspapers is hard enough. Sent to interview trapeze artist Ebony Diamond, Frankie finds herself fascinated by the tightly laced acrobat and follows her across London to a Mayfair corset shop that hides more than one dark secret.

Then Ebony Diamond mysteriously disappears in the middle of a performance, and Frankie is drawn into a world of tricks, society columnists, corset fetishists, suffragettes and circus freaks. How did Ebony vanish, who was she afraid of, and what goes on behind the doors of the mysterious Hourglass Factory?

From the newsrooms of Fleet Street to the drawing rooms of high society, the missing Ebony Diamond leads Frankie to the trail of a murderous villain with a plot more deadly than anyone could have imagined..

The Hourglass Factory is set in my favourite historical era and I am just slightly obsessed with the Suffragettes. There is a lot of hype surrounding this period in history at the moment, which I imagine is all due to the release of the movie Suffragette, which will be in cinemas this coming October. This is the only reason that I picked up the book to begin with, along with the stunning front cover, which was hard to miss! I read it in two days, and it is definitely one of the better books I have read this year.

You spend the majority of the story travelling around 1912’s London with Frankie, the strong female protagonist, on foot, and this creates plenty of opportunities to visualise the society of the time and how it would have been. Ribchester is successful in creating very realistic imagery that truly leaps out the page, and the reader can almost witness every sight, smell and noise that is presented to Frankie in her travels and tribulations. The period clothing, Frankie’s trouser suit and cigarettes, along with Ebony’s corsets really add an intricate detail to the historical aspect of the story. It made me want to jump into the pages; I love this particular era so much!

I thought that a third person narrative throughout the novel was perfect, and switching from Frankie to DI Primrose kept me engaged and eager to turn the pages, offering me two points of view on the suffragettes and the crimes they were involved in. At times, I was so hooked that I couldn’t put it down, literally! I kept myself up until ridiculous o’clock in the morning to find out how it was all going to pan out.

Frankie is impulsive, impetuous and stubborn. When she’s knocked down she’s not deterred but keeps on fighting. She’s sharp, clever, observatory, smokes cigarettes and wears trousers. But she is also a substantially realistic character as she has unlikeable characteristics and you do not always agree with her decisions. I think Milly, the snake dancer at Jojo’s Bar who develops into a pretty central figure, was definitely my favourite character, and I would have loved to have found out even more about her. I would certainly read a sequel if it was based on her life!

It was the mysterious aspect of the plot that kept me turning the pages. Every step and character was filled with intrigue, from our first meeting with Milly, to Olivier Smythe, the Parisian Corsetiere, to Ebony’s disappearance and beyond. Whilst reading, you get the feeling that the only character you truly know is Frankie. The imagery during the pivotal scene was excellent. It was full of action and excitement, and was perfectly fast-paced. I appreciated the switch between DI Primrose and Frankie’s journeys, and it was interesting to see how the Police apparently reacted to the Suffragettes. I also loved the insight into prison life, with the force-feeding of the male suffragette. Ending the story on the Derby Day that Emily Davison was killed was a perfect way to finish, although it threw me a bit when it was suggested that the three of them hadn’t all kept in touch.

My only problem was that it was, more often than not, historically inaccurate. This was made up for by the interesting storyline, and Ribchester acknowledges her own inaccuracy at the start of the book. However, I definitely feel that it would have been better if she had undertaken more thorough research to make it historically factual. I also found the journalist Frankie slightly too irritating for a protagonist. As much as I loved the story, I didn’t particularly love her.

Overall, the story was richly imagined but wasn’t too heavy, and it remained light-hearted and easy to read although it often dealt with more serious issues. The Hourglass Factory was an exciting, fast-paced, and intriguing read that kept you guessing until the last page. Considering it was a debut novel, it was absolutely fantastic, and I eagerly look forward to what Lucy Ribchester will be writing next.

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May Reads

May 1, 2015May 19, 2020 ~ fionareads ~ Leave a comment

It’s May already – where have the first four months of this year gone?! As usual, I have a huge list of books piled up that are screaming at me to be read from my very overfull bookshelves. I am definitely a compulsive book buyer, and cannot resist a book with a pretty cover. I also have a habit of pre-ordering books from my favourite authors without even reading the blurbs! I have yet to be disappointed, but it’s definitely an expensive pastime. Here is a list of the books I am hoping to read in May. However, It might well extend into June… I very rarely stick to any TBR lists that I set myself, so definitely take this with a pinch of salt!

Love Notes for Freddie

Marnie FitzPatrick is a reclusive sixth-former from Hertfordshire with a dysfunctional family, a penchant for Pythagoras’ Theorem and an addiction to doughnuts and gin. Julie Crewe is a disillusioned maths teacher who lives vicariously through the girls she teaches, yet who once danced barefoot through Central Park with a man called Jo she has never been able to forget.

This one isn’t actually due to be released until the beginning of June, but I am so excited to read it that I just had to include it. I have read both The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp, and absolutely fell in love with Eva Rice’s writing style. Her books are addictive, eccentric, fantastically vintage and spilling with original characters. I am sure her next book will live up to the hype. The story sounds intriguing and I can’t wait to read it!

Small Wars

What happens when everything a man believes in — the army, his country, his marriage — begins to crumble? Hal Treherne is a young British soldier on the brink of a brilliant career. Transferred to Cyprus to defend the colony, Hal takes his wife, Clara, and their daughters with him. But Hal is pulled into atrocities that take him further from Clara, a betrayal that is only one part of a shocking personal crisis to come. Small Wars is a searing, unforgettable novel from a writer at the height of her powers.

So far, I have only read the author’s debut novel, The Outcast, but it was passionate, beautifully written, and harrowing. I absolutely adored it, and have read it several times. I am very excited to read this. I love novels that are set in the Second World War, and this sounds like it will be just as dramatic and hard-hitting as Jones’s debut novel. She seems to have a talent for writing compelling, engrossing narrative that burrows deep under your skin.

The Hourglass Factory

The year is 1912 and London is in turmoil. The suffragette movement is reaching fever pitch but for broke Fleet Street tomboy Frankie George, just getting by in the cut-throat world of newspapers is hard enough. Sent to interview trapeze artist Ebony Diamond, Frankie finds herself fascinated by the tightly laced acrobat and follows her across London to a Mayfair corset shop that hides more than one dark secret.

Of course there is nothing I like better than a novel about Suffragettes (Opal Plumstead and Parade’s End are amongst my favourites!) Add in some murder mystery, Fleet Street, and the circus, and it could be a thrilling read. It definitely sounds like it will be a gem, and it looks like it too. It was the beautiful cover that drew me to buying it in the first place. This is a debut novel from Lucy Ribchester so it will be interesting to see if it’s as fast-paced and exciting as the blurb makes out!

The Sun In Her Eyes

‘Before your mother died, she asked me to tell you something …’
When Amber Church was three, her mother was killed in a car accident. A stranger was at the scene and now, nearly thirty years later, she’s desperate to talk to Amber.
Living in London and not-so-happily married to Ned, Amber is greeted one morning by two pieces of news: she’s to be made redundant from her City job and her beloved father, across the world in Australia where she grew up, has been felled by a stroke. She takes the first plane out to be by his side, leaving Ned uncertain as to when she will return. Reunited with her old friends, Amber is forced to confront her feelings for Ethan Lockwood, the gorgeous, green-eyed man she fell for as a young girl.
And then Amber receives a letter that changes everything …

I can be a bit of a book snob, not proudly, and am an avid hater of the endless stream of ChickLit that graces the shelves of Waterstones. However, someone who does not fit this narrow genre is Paige Toon. Although officially ‘ChickLit’, her books are clever, and a little deeper than the average romantic, love-triangle story that is so common in the genre. I absolutely love her writing style, and the way that she manages to weave her characters in and out of each other’s books. This should definitely be a great, easy, beach read, and she hasn’t disappointed me yet.

Celandine

Set seventy years before The Various, the second book in the trilogy follows the adventures of young Celandine at the onset of the First World War. Having run away from her detested boarding school, Celandine is too afraid to go home in case she is sent back. As she seeks shelter in the Wild Wood near her home, little does she think she will encounter a world where loyalty and independence is fiercely guarded, and where danger lurks in the most unlikely of places. Celandine’s troubled character finds both refuge and purpose among the secret tribes of little people that she alone believes in.

The novels of the Various trilogy are full of mystery, beauty and adventure; this second novel is both page-turning and life-affirming.

This is the second book in the Touchstone trilogy, and I read the first, The Various, almost thirteen years ago, when I was ten years old. I haven’t picked it up for a long time, but even now, I remember how magical and beautiful the story was. Steve Augarde is a fantastic writer. It’s pages were full of beauty and adventure and now they seem to fill me with a deep-seated longing to be a child again. I will definitely re-read The Various before beginning Celandine. It’s a little battered compared to this brand new copy that I received for Christmas from my mother. I must have read it a hell of a lot for her to remember it from over a decade ago. Someone said to me recently: ‘It’s extremely important to keep reading children’s literature. It keeps your heart young.’ And I couldn’t agree more.

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Book Review – Suffragette: My Own Story

April 14, 2015June 23, 2015 ~ fionareads ~ Leave a comment

Suffragette: My Own Story by Emmeline Pankhurst
Published: in 2015 by Hesperus Press Limited (First Published in 1914)
Genres: Autobiography, Feminism, Politics
Pages: 332
Source: Goodreads

The closing paragraphs of this book were written in the late summer of 1914, when the armies of every great power in Europe were being mobilised for savage, unsparing, barbarous warfare-against one another, against small and unaggressive nations, against helpless women and children, against civilisation itself. How mild, by comparison with the despatches in the daily newspapers, will seem this chronicle of women’s militant struggle against political and social injustice in one small corner of Europe. Yet let it stand as it was written, with peace-so-called, and civilisation, and orderly government as the background for heroism such as the world has seldom witnessed. The militancy of men, through all the centuries, has drenched the world with blood, and for these deeds of horror and destruction men have been rewarded with monuments, with great songs and epics. The militancy of women has harmed no human life save the lives of those who fought the battle of righteousness. Time alone will reveal what reward will be allotted to the women.

I think the most powerful aspect of this story, which is part history, part politics and part autobiography is that it was written before the battle for women’s votes was won. The effect on the reader is that you come close to feeling like a real-time participant in the battle between the WSPU and the government. The detail is revealing and the facts are shocking. Before reading this book, I believed I was clued up on the Suffragette movement, but clearly I was not. I had no idea of the full goriness, pain, barbarism at the hands of men and utter unfairness that the women of the WSPU had to endure. They were incredibly brave and it humbles me. Pankhurst’s writing is fully immersive and you feel as though you are right in the middle of it, witnessing the events that she describes transpire.

Although it was written a hundred years ago, and we now have the vote that they were fighting for, the whole story still feels entirely relevant. We might have the vote, here in the UK, but there are still women who do not use it, and there are still millions of other battles that we need to fight to ensure an equal society. Every woman in the UK should read this, especially as we approach a general election, in which we will all get the right to vote on who runs our country. We’re a long way from equal representation, and I still speak to women who have never voted and do not intend to vote, which makes me angry. I do have a tendency to over-preach my views, but still. Women endured barbaric suffering and even died so that we could have the vote – and you’re not going to use it? Seriously?

I was brought up by a mother who taught me everything that she knew about the suffragette movement and was always made aware that I should value my right to vote, and that women had chained themselves to railings, and endured force-feeding, on my behalf for that right. What I did not realise was the full gory detail of that fight, and how utterly barbaric it was. Emmeline Pankhurst seems to try to justify her use of militancy in the autobiography – but I do not feel she needs to. I’m unsure whether I would have been strong enough to have fought alongside them and that thought alone is humbling. It got me to thinking what I would have done as a Suffragette – how far would I have gone? And what I could continue to do now to help modern day feminist issues.

Why this book isn’t on every school history class reading list I do not know. It really, really should be. Women’s history should be just as important a part of education as male history, but it still isn’t, even now. I know for a fact that without my mother teaching me who Mrs Pankhurst was, who Emily Davison was, and what they both did, along with others, there is no way that I would have known even their names if she had left it down to my teachers.

USE YOUR VOTE is a phrase that springs to mind, especially now, with the UK General Election approaching and the country in a state of prospective political change. It has never been more important to integrate feminism into your everyday life. Even if it’s just as small as calling up a co-worker on a sexist comment, or righting ignorance. Only the other day, I was at a dinner, and we were talking about the general election. A woman sat beside me said that she wouldn’t vote, and never had, as ‘she didn’t know who to vote for.’ I couldn’t help but say ‘You have to vote. Do some research, and vote for the party you like the most. Women died so that you could have the freedom to do that.’ Subsequently, a man in the same conversation proceeded to comment that ‘They did not! All they did was burn their bloody bras!’ I felt my face boil up in anger at the ignorance of his comment, and I wish, even now, that I had had the confidence to right him.

This book has definitely given me that confidence to speak up, and I think that every woman in the world should read it. It’s enlightening, enjoyable, shocking and inspirational. And there has never been a more perfect time to read it.

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