Tagged with Feminist fiction

Lolly Willowes (1926) by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Book review by Sue R: Sylvia Townsend Warner was a poet, short story writer, novelist and musicologist. She wrote non- fiction works including a biography of T.H. White, and a translation of Proust. She and her partner Valentine Ackland, a poet, were both active in the Communist Party; they worked for Red Cross during the … Continue reading

Suffragette Sally (1911) by Gertrude Colmore

Book Review by Sylvia D: Gertrude Colmore (1855-1926) finished writing Suffragette Sally in February 1911 at the height of the women’s militant suffrage campaign. She covers the two years preceding the book’s publication and, through the experiences of three women from very different backgrounds, attempts to explain the way the women’s actions were misrepresented and … Continue reading

Westwood by Stella Gibbons

Most people only know Stella Gibbons for writing Cold Comfort Farm, her first novel. But she went on to write more than 20 novels and Westwood, published in 1946 was believed to be Gibbons’ own personal favourite. Set in wartime London, Westwood is a coming of age story. It is the story of Margaret Steggles, … Continue reading

Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells (1909)

Review by Sylvia D: I’d been meaning to read Ann Veronica for some time but have to admit that I found it a little disappointing given it has been cited as a ‘New Woman’ novel.  However, one has to remember that it was written at the beginning of the twentieth century (1909) when there was … Continue reading

The Pastor’s Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim (1914)

Review by Sylvia D: The Pastor’s Wife is a joy to read. It is witty, thought-provoking, full of wonderful descriptive passages and a fine study of human isolation. The main character, Ingeborg Bullivant, moves from the tyranny of an unbending, pompous Bishop of a father to being helpmeet to a stolid German pastor for whom … Continue reading