#2 What I'm Reading
Where Violence Against Women and Girls dominates my fictional choices accidentally
TW: Rape/Sexual Violence
This week, another book with a super beachy vibe and cover knocked me out by centering around a rape. It’s the second time in a month that there was no indication on the cover or blurb. I’ve gone back and forth over the need for trigger warnings before, but given all of the accounts I am hearing in my real life about inescapable male violence against women, I tend to try to ignore it when I am escaping in to fiction.
I picked up Memphis which had an illustration on the cover of three stylised Black women and was on a summer reads table in the airport WH Smith. It says “A joyous celebration of three generations of Black Women.” On page 3 a child is raped by her cousin with a hanger. Brutal brutal violence is not a summer read. I went back and read the blurbs to see if I missed a coded reference, but no. Not only was there no reference, throughout the book there is little responsibility taken by male perpetrators. The boy/man that does it gets called a djinn; so it is down to spirits not responsibility. It’s like when people are quoted in the press saying the men responsible for horrific crimes are animals. No, they are not animals. Animals don’t have the rational choice and it abdicates responsibility. They are men that control those actions and decisions, those decisions that shatter lives.
The second one is That Summer by Jennifer Weiner. Now Jennifer’s work is a taste of home and relief. She lived in the town where I went to Uni and her books always have ties to Philadelphia. They are intelligent escapism for me and I’ve read everything she’s written. But again, I wasn’t ready for a book all about rape. It was super readable, but the entire premise of the book.
And the final is Heatstroke by Hazel Barkworth which is about a teenager running away with a teacher. Not rape per se, but lots on the areas of grey in consent and power dynamics.
Am I just picking up the wrong books? Once for London Book Club we had an eleven book streak where there was always a rape thrown in. At that point, is it not a trope? We ended up reading a Bill Bryson to break the streak.
Sarra Manning has given me some kind recommendations for books and television shows with Anne of Green Gables level of tension which I’ve been incredibly grateful for because at times it feels like the threat is inescapable. And if it is all I talk about in my work and all I read about in my leisure time, I’ll never leave the house again.
So if you have some lighter suggestions, I’m all ears.
In other lighter reading news:
The Book of Form & Emptiness won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. I read the longlist every year for the ipaper and adore the prize and was lucky to be invited to the fancy garden bash and rub elbows with so many women I admire and look up to.
I had put it on my shortlist and this was my review at the time. Also gave it to Ellen Jones and when I gift books to friends, it is always a good sign. Matching books with people is my superhero power. It really is a book for those of who love words on the page and bookstores and libraries and the craft that goes into getting them into our hands.
The Book of Form & Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
5 stars
My overwhelming feeling at finishing this book is to just want to scoop Annabelle and Benny up and just kiss them better. I know that isn’t realistic or possible; but the book really speaks to the need to compassionately understand need and illness and not just throw medication at the ills of the world. Was totally lost in the world that Ruth created and would buy any of the snow globes created by the Aleph.
And last but not least. When I need to cleanse my palate books wise, I love YA Fiction. Cultivating life long readers and speaking to young women’s stories is hugely important. I often shout about Elle McNicoll’s amazing books with protagonists that are neuro diverse. And this week I was sent an early copy of Toxic (will we ever see that word without Britney playing in our heads) by Natasha Devon who encapsulates the all encompassing world of teenage best friends and what that feels like with an anxiety disorder. This afternoon, my best friend of 32 years and I were laughing about sending eachother three page notes in class when we sat next to eachother and spoke for hours every night. That relationship was my most intense at the time and we are family to eachother; but what happens if it is harmful and gaslighting and problematic. Natasha’s debut nails the constant self doubt and insecurity of teenage girls and the falling in love with a new best friend what that can lead to. I love that it wasn’t about bickering over boys and really centered on the way girls treat and undermine each other and that those relationships are formative and really important to deciding who we will be as we grow up.
Note: I’ll never tag any author if I am not complimentary, but I will tag all books at Bookshop.org
#2 What I'm Reading
I'm currently listening to I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. And the last fiction book I read (People Person) had quite blurred lines of consent.
Definitely not a comfort read but there's a big clue in the title - Abi Morgan's book This Is Not A Pity Memoir is incredible.