For the love of a body like mine, Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley.

Happy National Poetry Month to everyone in the US! As for readers in the UK like me, you’ve been in quarantine since last year, we’re not waiting to celebrate until October.

Thanks to the folx over at Button Poetry I have been able to read some brilliant poetry collections. I’ve reviewed one of their writer’s before, the marvellous Blythe Baird which you can read over here.  So let’s kick off with a new favourite of mine by Rachel Wiley who has recently celebrated the three year anniversary of her second collection, Nothing Is Okay.  For me, Rachel Wiley is the poet laureate of the plus size, a superfat Sappho.  Alright, I know that’s very gushy and yes, no one should be reduced to a single group appeal, and certainly Wiley would probably hate me writing that too… but… as a fat woman I felt so seen reading this.

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Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley
★★★★★

Originally released in 2014, Fat Girl Finishing School is Rachel Wiley’s first full-length collection of poems. You may recognise her name from Button Poetry’s YouTube channel where Wiley’s performance of “10 Honest Thoughts on Being Loved by a Skinny Boy” went viral. It has recently been re-released, now with a beautiful new cover and a new introduction from the author, Fat Girl Finishing School is a powerful exploration of size, race, sexuality, and altogether living in a body outside the allowance of normal.

Wiley’s background as an actress, as she mentions in the new introduction, really lends itself to her poetry in the way it can build a connection with the reader. The pauses in things unsaid, the feelings just below the surface most of us experience, allows Wiley to weave a broad scope of topics together. Being fat, being bi-racial, being a member of the LGBT+ community, it’s all presented in such a way I think anyone could identify a part of themselves in, and, by extension, empathise with the rest.

While her most famous poem may be about size, for me a standout poem in this collection was Americana. It describes an experience at a high school party where a boy is happy to throw around the N-word but will kiss a bi-racial girl when no one’s looking. Clearly a poem about bi-racial identity in America, but for me – and I imagine a lot of fat women – it spoke to how we are made to feel about intimacy. While I won’t ever know the indignation that comes with the N-word being slurred in my face, but the self-hating ache of accepting attention from someone because “you’re fat and God knows when you’ll get another chance”? I felt that so hard I had to step away and make a mug of tea.

Likewise, while the lines “I am fat / no, you are beautiful / and I wonder why I cannot be both” hit differently when you are fat, I defy any ‘skinny’ person, particularly girls and women, not feel that too.

As a first collection, there is room to argue that there is a mix in terms of quality, but while I’m admitting this so you don’t think I’m completely biased, I don’t really think it matters. It’s a first collection, of course there is going to be a poem or phrasing that doesn’t quite sit right, and that’s before we get into the mess of personal taste. What I do think is interesting is how you can see Wiley’s development as a poet. If in one collection you can go from ‘reasonably good’ to ‘heart-thumping resonance’ just by flipping a page, I don’t know how you could not be excited to see what Wiley does next.

With an honesty that borders on raw, but never without humour or joy that is still radical to publicly hold when you’re fat, I cannot see how you would not enjoy this collection if you like modern or slam poetry at all. It’s bold and upfront, genuine with no hiding behind flowery or contrived imagery. In a fatphobic world that would rather bury the fat than embrace them, Fat Girl Finishing School is Rachel Wiley’s bold Lady Godiva ride of a love letter – middle fingers raised high – to her body and those like it, and I loved it.

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Fat Girl Finishing School, by Rachel Wiley, is published by Button Poetry.

Follow the link to get your copy of Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley.

I received my copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review, all opinions my own etc etc

Like my reviews?  You can read all of them, and more, over at my blog or you can follow me on Goodreads.

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It’s all in the chromosomes. The Better Half, by Sharon Moalem.

My God what day is it?

I hope you’re all well and keeping at a safe social distance.  I am currently furloughed from work but the book news doesn’t stop.  Following a fantastic read in early March of Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what all ‘this’ might mean for women.  Are we in the testing groups for coronavirus vaccines?  Will any vaccine or treatment respond differently to female bodies?  Hang on, more women surviving than men?  Or so the man on the news said.  My initial reaction was that it must be due to behaviours.  Women being more conscious with hand washing, men occupying more positions in work deemed essential services (wrong there btw), men being less likely to go to a doctor.  But then the flu affects men worse as well, I couldn’t help but wonder why.  Conveniently this cropped up in the middle of reading The Better Half by Dr Sharon Moalem, so I wasn’t left wondering for long…

 

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The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women by Sharon Moalem: ★★★★

An image exists in fiction and our cultural hivemind of the weak woman. Incapable of survival without male guardianship, too frail to lift anything heavier than a baby, too feeble for feats of endurance. It’s nonsense, but the myth persists. Enter stage left Dr Sharon Moalem. Drawing on experience and research as a medic, geneticist and specialist in rare diseases, Moalem explores in The Better Half why women (or rather, XX chromosome carriers) consistently outperform men (respectively XY carriers) in areas such as immunity, stamina, and adaptability.

It is a thought-provoking premise, that genetically speaking bodies that carry XX chromosomes are stronger than those with XY (or by extension, any variation where only one X is present). I found it exceptionally well paired with Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. In her book Perez talks about ‘male default thinking’ – the assumption that the male experience is the default, and everything female is an add-on. The Better Half does something similar in examining the assumption that male bodies are stronger, and everything female is a handicap. It’s a fascinating exploration not only of the survival advantages XX entails, but the clear need for reconsidering the male-centric view of the human body throughout science and medicine. Just why do women cope with disease better? Why are they unlikely to be colourblind? And why do women suffer more auto-immune conditions?

For the most part the writing is accessible, suffice to say that even I – nought but a lowly film grad – could understand the science. However, there were moments where it felt Moalem couldn’t fix on which ‘mode’ to write in. The established specialist addressing their peers, or as easy and breezy pop-science? There were a few tangents, and a couple of paragraphs that I had to double read. That said, after I had finished the initial text and skimmed through the notes and references there were the expansions I had needed. So I don’t know if this is really an issue with the book, or just that I read it as an eBook. Someone with a print version tell me if there are footnotes instead of a notes section.

On the topic of accessibility I have to veer off into Gender Politics for a bit. When I read the title and summary I did worry The Better Half would be ‘terfy’ – endorsing Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist views on gender and sex. If you had that same worry, you really don’t need to. While not much page space if given to trans or intersex bodies, very early on Moalem draws a sharp line between a person’s gender identity and their genetic sex. This book is concerned with the contents of your chromosomes, not the contents of your pants.

I haven’t been able to get The Better Half out of my head since finishing it (particularly the immunity part). I’ve already mentioned Invisible Women, I’d also recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Gendered Brain by Gina Rippon, and/or Inferior by Angel Saini. To everyone else, if you’ve ever looked at a female anglerfish or spider and wondered why nature endowed them with size and survivability over their male counterparts, this is a book for you.

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The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women, by Sharon Moalem, is published by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Follow the link to get your copy of The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women, by Sharon Moalem.

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Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust, by Renia Spiegal.

Finally, the review I’ve ummed and erred over since finishing the book at the end of August. I can’t even blame it all on work.

Reviewing, especially with NetGalley titles, is especially awkward for primary sources of the Holocaust. A typical history book, something written decades after the fact, can be judged on how the author tells the story, their engagement with the topic, and how you feel as a reader. Holocaust texts, diaries in particular, are hard; they may never have been intended to be read, they are the experiences of an average person, they are historical documents, the very notion of editing the text seems sacrosanct, and ultimately they are exercises in defiance. Jewish people are still here, the Nazis didn’t succeed, the dead are not silent or forgotten. In such a case the star rating system is rather hollow and arbitrary, if not insensitive and wholly inappropriate.

Yet agreeing to read for NetGalley obliges me to use it, meaningless as it feels. So, as you scroll through the review please keep that in mind. I’m going to try to approach this looking at the book both as a reader experience, and the wider view such a topic demands.

Also, I know this topic can attract some heated levels of discussion, so if somehow my pokey little blog garners that kind of attention, please keep things civil in the comments.

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REVIEW: ★★★

Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust by Renia Spiegel

In 1942 Renia Spiegel was murdered by the Nazis. Translated by Anna Blasiak and Marta Dziurosz, with all the loves and longings typical of a teen diary, Renia’s Diary would act as refuge for a girl living in occupied Poland. The diary begins in 1939, the German and Russian armies are carving Poland in two, and Renia finds herself cut off from her mother. The glimpses of a war-torn world come to a boil as the diary reaches its dreadful conclusion when the Nazis invade soviet held territories. With a final entry from her boyfriend and the diary’s keeper, Zygmunt, and commentary from both author Deborah E. Lipstadt and Renia’s sister Elizabeth, Renia’s Diary is a touching testament to a tragic loss and tribute to a much-loved sister.

The marketing for this books seems to rely heavily on presenting this as a ‘war diary’, however, I feel this missold the text. Based on the blurb I expected an account of what it was like to live in an occupied city, but Renia writes very little about the war or occupation. If you came thinking it would be descriptions of bombed-out buildings and terrified nighttime escapes, you will be disappointed. This is a teen girl’s diary. Absolutely. Renia mentions as much in the diary; that it is her space away from the war and “all the darkness”. Unfortunately, this can make reading it a little difficult. We have all been around a teenager who wants to talk of nothing but the person they fancy, reading Renia’s diary can be like that. In this, it varies hugely from Anne Frank’s diary (and this is the only comparison I shall make), as Anne’s repetition is as much a part of living in such a confined space, while Renia chooses to write about her boyfriend. And she does write about him. A lot. Most of her entries are about Zygmunt – how much she loves him, wondering if he loves her, how handsome she thinks he is, will he walk her home tomorrow, and so on, and so on. Once you’ve finished it can be seen as how hope and love can survive in the face of turmoil, but during the read it got a little… eye-rolly. Can you blame her though? If you were caught in a war and terrible persecution, wouldn’t you want to dwell on your “only breath of spring and sunshine”?

It is a teenager’s diary, an unedited teenager’s diary at that, and readers must remember it’s a historical document. The end brings it into sharp focus. Very sharp focus. Her murder, her sister’s account of escaping Poland with their mother, and Lipstadt’s addition, make you realise what you have just read. A diary of a dead girl. Her life, so similar to yours, was stolen and she never got to look back at her teen diary as an adult and think “G-d, did I really write that!”.

As my copy was provided by NetGalley, and therefore an ebook, I can recommend reading a physical copy. No, this is not out of olde-worlde prejudice. Where Renia blots out the war, the notes are vital in keeping the entries in context, both in regards to the Holocaust and to Renia’s personal history. The notes, the looming knowledge of how close the Nazis are drawing, changes how you read entries. Reading it through Adobe Digital Editions I read the text without the notes. There is one entry in particular that I groaned through the first read, but my interpretation completely changed when reading in tandem with the notes and commentary. The tone completely alters when you know Renia is writing about kissing her boyfriend on the same day Operation Barbarossa is approved.

The entries are interspersed with Renia’s poetry, some touching, some poignant, some letting slip Renia’s feelings about her situation than the day-to-day entires. You may feel conflicted about her poetry. On the one hand, it’s tragic that Renia never got to develop her writing skill, the growth between poems written in 1939 to those in 1942 is plain to see. On the other hand, they are written by a teenager and can suffer the same reaction as the more angst-filled diary entries. Though, I wonder how much of that is due to the translation choice. The diary, the poems were written in Polish, so why do the translated poems rhyme? Were the translators trying to provide ‘sense’ or ‘intention’ rather than a verbatim translation? Did they think we associate rhyming poetry with immaturity and the juvenile, therefore better fitting of a teen girl? Would a different translation better highlight the heartbreaking signs of the woman Renia might have matured to be?

Lastly, I would like to praise Elizabeth’s afterword. Even decades later she writes with such candour it’s incredibly easy to imagine yourself in her shoes. It also highlights, where Renia avoids, just how precarious their situation was.

It is difficult to rate Renia’s Diary because in part it was never meant to be read as a book. Without the notes or the afterword, it is just a teen diary, the kind of thing you or I would banish to the back of the wardrobe, a little embarrassed by our former selves. However, with them, a clear picture emerges that obliges readers to consider just how normality can be swept aside in the flick of a page. Nothing is clearer in the diary than Renia’s desire to live, to love, and to be happy. She was denied that, and the existence of this diary – just as with Anne’s – is part of recognising the debt we all owe in ensuring this doesn’t happen again.

Renia Spiegal
18 June 1934 – 30 July 1942

For more information about Renia, her diary, and the foundation established in her name, visit reniaspiegelfoundation.org

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Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust, by Renia Spiegal, is published by Ebury Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Follow the link to get your copy of Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust, by Renia Spiegal.

We like Hive.co.uk.  Hive pay their taxes.

I received my copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review, all opinions my own etc etc

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Down where it’s wetter, that’s where it’s better. Beneath Cruel Fathoms by Anela Deen.

Just when you thought it was okay to go back on the internet…

Unless you’ve been off in the woods with no phone and nought for company but a bear, you probably heard that Disney announced Halle Bailey as Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

And then five minutes later a lot of white people on the internet lost their minds… and not in a fun “mind blown!” way.

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be an opinion post about who I think should or shouldn’t play Ariel. Though if you convince me in the comments I might be convinced to dust off some old scribblings of mine on the matter of ‘realistic’ beasts.

Breaking a non-fiction combo I just finished reading ‘Beneath Cruel Fathoms’ by Anela Deen, here’s what I thought of it.

REVIEW: ★ ★ ★ ★

Beneath Cruel Fathoms by Anela Deen

Isaura is all at sea. Following the breakdown of her marriage, Isaura Johnasdottir is returning home to Eisland when her ship is beset by an unnatural storm. The only survivor and sure to perish in the vast Failock Sea, in a twist of fate the magic that doomed her shipmates would deliver a rescue. Leonel, Guardian of the Fathoms and last of the Merfolk, can taste the foul magic as he investigates the site of yet another sinking. Freak storms, no bodies, no survivors, until now. Defying the Blue Laws, a taboo preventing interaction the land dwellers, Leonel saves Isaura’s life and together they must uncover who, or what, is causing the storms that threaten to unbalance life on land and sea before it’s too late. Before something stirs from the Orom Abyss…

The first in The Bitter Sea Trilogy, Beneath Cruel Fathoms by Anela Deen is a charming swan dive into folk fantasy, appropriate for YA/NA and adult reads alike. Far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise (well, sort of), it’s definitely worth picking up if fantasy with a touch of romance is your thing. And before the ‘r’ word puts anyone off, it’s not an schmoozy-schmaltzy romance, and certainly not a tropey “slap a bare chest on the cover and call it a day” paranormal romance. Maybe there are a couple of cheesy lines but c’mon, it’s a story about a merman. If you came looking for gritty realism and are disappointed, you only have yourself to blame.

I found the setting interesting. The Gods of the world are from the Norse pantheon, the technology I would guess based on the 18th century, and with countries like Dinmark and Eisland I did wonder whether this was written as fantasy or magic-realism. It certainly can read as either. Actually, with a couple of anachronisms you could squint and read it as set in the future after a catastrophic climate event has flooded the world. Whichever reading you take, the meld of fantasy with just enough common history worked really well and I felt it grounded the story nicely.

The only proverbial nit to pick was that occasionally it felt like Deen tripped over her own lore. For example, there is a scene where Leonel and Isaura bid their final goodbyes, but I didn’t feel like the story had confirmed why it had to be so final. Without spoiling anything, it is established that merfolk can walk on land for a few days at a time before having to return to the sea. However, I didn’t see any mention of a threshold that once passed meant they couldn’t return to dry land. Maybe I read it too literally and it was more the characters reacting to the land/sea equivalent of a long-distance relationship, but for me it felt like creating tragedy for tragedy’s sake. Keep in mind that I feel that way about the ending of Romeo and Juliet as well. There could have also been some callback to named sailors from the opening chapter, later events in the book certainly allow for that. But then again, I feel that way about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern SO…

The characters are well-developed. Leonel’s place as the half brother in a court of Gods was an excellent background to the action and in establishing his character. Scenes might leave you frustrated with some of the supporting characters but the fact I wanted to reach into the book and shake them is a sign of Deen’s skill. I enjoyed Isaura and Leonel’s separate paths to understanding themselves and how they reacted to different aspects of feeling that you need to be something, or someone else. [Spoiler] I was initially a little wary of how Isaura’s infertility and self-worth were intertwined – I blame Joss Whedon and the whole Black Widow “I’m a monster” scene, sure Joss, a sterile woman is monstrous, murder is just fine though, sure. However, I was actually pleased with how her self-realisation unfolded and it completely made sense in the context of either a time period, or the reader’s world where women are still largely defined by reproduction. As someone potentially facing a PCOS diagnosis it was validating and resonated to read a character like Isaura in a genre that can be lighthearted. I felt seen.

Beneath Cruel Fathoms is definitely worth picking up and easy to read. It works as a standalone so there’s no need to wait for the next two books to be written. It would make an excellent summer read if you’re fretting over what books to read on vacation, being by the sea would only add to it. Go on, dip a toe in the Failock.


AND BLESSED BE THERE WASN’T A LOVE TRIANGLE.

‘Beneath Cruel Fathoms’, by Anela Deen, is published by Fine Fables Press.

Follow the link to get your copy of Beneath Cruel Fathoms by Anela Deen. It’s also available on Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited.

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Ross and Demelza were excellent headcastings for Isaura and Leonel, 10/10 would recommend

The Reading Rush 2019

It’s that time of year again!

From July 22nd to July 28th Ariel will be dragging our library bound bodies outdoor- oh no, wait, there’s not a read outside challenge this year.

For the uninitiated The Reading Rush is the new name for BookTubeAThon, one week where readers around the world try to read as much as they can. That could be one book for you, it could be ten, either way it’s a great opportunity to chip into your to-be-read pile.

This year there is a fancy new website where you can track your activity, interact with other readers, and see all the other info about challenges and giveaways. Here’s the link.

I’ve signed up, I’m in the process of working out what to read for the week, and if you want to add me go ahead.

<<and here is where I’ll edit in my reading list if I don’t get around to filming a video before the readathon starts>>

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Fight for Your Right to Pro-Choice. Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, by Katha Pollitt.

When drafting this post in my head I thought my interest in the topic would be easily explained, “what America does, the UK has a horrible habit of mimicking a couple of years later.”

That was in reference to the various 5-week bans, and ‘heartbeat bills’ in May that have been trending topics in the US. Even as I finished editing this post the city council of Waskom, Texas passed ordinance to prevent abortion clinics from opening in the city.

Then Jeremy Hunt opened his mouth.

#Tory leadership candidate @Jeremy_Hunt has said he thinks the legal time limit for abortion should be reduced from 24 weeks to 12 weeks https://t.co/ITaaWJ4pf3

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 9, 2019

How dare he make me thankful for Gove’s cocaine anecdote.

So much for ‘a couple of years later’.

You want to believe it’s ‘sound bite policy’ – something said just to appeal to a voter demographic. However, considering we’re in the timeline where a candidate unabashedly suggested abolishing council housing, you can’t blame me for feeling a need to brace and buttress my opinions.

REVIEW ★ ★ ★ ⅔

Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt


Books about the abortion debate are controversial, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights will be no different. Appealing to the ‘muddled-middle’, here Katha Pollitt presents an unapologetic examination of anti-abortion rhetoric and defence of reproductive justice’s credo.

As a matter of housekeeping, the use of the term ‘anti-abortion’ here is to be consistent with the book, and to differentiate between those who label themselves pro-life while only opposing access to the procedure, and those who work reduce the need for abortions.

Pro tackles three elements of the abortion debate: what are the key anti-abortion arguments, how accurate are these arguments, and how can the pro-choice side present a stronger opposition. Contrary to my dry explanation, the text is accessible and reads with personality; think ‘transcript of a feminist podcast’.

Pollitt examines the key rhetoric of anti-abortion advocates unreservedly and raises questions that need to be asked. If the aim is to reduce unwanted pregnancies, why not advocate for extensive sex-ed and access to birth control? If the aim is to reduce the number of abortions performed, why target the procedure but not obstacles to parenthood like poverty and access to childcare? She also questions the, frankly, paternalistic roots of ‘permit but discourage’ compromises – like mandatory waiting periods and parental consent – and the limp-wristed defence of abortion that consistently frames women as victims.

However, as reasonable as Pollitt’s examination is, I worry that the book preaches to the proverbial choir. As abortion has shifted from a debatable topic to a marker of political identity, perhaps Pollitt wrote this knowing those opposed would only sneer at it. This is potentially the book’s main weakness. Writing on the assumption that her readers would be pro-choice, Pollitt’s tone sometimes shifts into soapboxing, and at times sarcasm. While for a pro-choice reader it can be vindicating in an ‘amen to that’ kind of way, I doubt it would appeal otherwise. I can see more than a few of the undecided or opposed being entirely put off reading. Given that the book aimed to address the debate, it’s counterproductive to chase readers back into their echo chambers.

The text is very America-centric, all the legislation mentioned is American though Pollitt happily references cases such as that of Savita Halappanavar* in Ireland. The book also overlooks the involvement of women of colour – both as defenders and advocates of reproductive healthcare, and individuals disproportionately affected by access to abortion – and at worst comes across as propping up white feminism exclusivity. The titular point, how the pro-choice side can reclaim the discussion, was the briefest part of the book. While yes, political expression should not be spoon fed, Pollitt’s viewpoints on this part could have been fleshed out a bit more for the sake of providing a clear opposition.

Despite its flaws; I would still recommend reading Pro, whether it’s a topic you are passionate about or one you would like to learn more about. If you are pro-life then it’s worth interacting with the opposing view to root out any inconsistencies in your opinions, no view is beneath fact-checking, after all. If you are one of the ‘muddled middle’, this book may help subvert some of the more harmful, but heart-tugging, exaggerations, and distortions thrown about by some of the less discerning anti-abortion advocates. As for those who are pro-choice, this is a sharp wake up call; if the defence of access to reproductive healthcare regurgitates variations of “the Pill isn’t just for sex”, and “what about fetal abnormalities”, the debate is going to be lost.


*Savita was refused an abortion in 2012 following an incomplete miscarriage, and whose death led to the passing of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act.

Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, is published by Picador.

Follow the link to get your copy of Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, by Katha Pollitt. It’s also available on Kindle, Kobo, and Nook.

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“Do you think we’re over using the metaphor?”
“Nah, this is pop culture now.”

Can I make a slam-dunk pun for slam poetry? If My Body Could Speak, by Blythe Baird.

Oh god this is overdue.

 

April was National Poetry Month in the US so I tried to tag along but then a thing came up with Bookmarks.  A thing I might not be able to talk about yet, and that plan went the same way as Dolly Parton on an icy floor – tits up.

But!  But, I did read one collection of poems, ‘If My Body Could Speak’ by Blythe Baird.  If that name sounds familiar you’ve probably come across her on YouTube.  Her poem ‘When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny’ – this collection’s opener – has almost 3 millions views, making it one of the most popular videos on the Button Poetry channel.  Not bad for someone who’s only 22, hmm?

A poetry collection of feminists themes, if you’ve glanced at the news recently you can guess why I’ve spent more time screaming internally than writing.

★ ★ ★ ★

If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird.

I have a complicated relationship with modern poetry.  If you need some context, check out my review of ‘the witch doesn’t burn in this one’.  I didn’t ‘get’ Milk and Honey, or the follow up collection.  Am I just getting old?  Are publishers prioritising Goodreads Choice Awards over Good editors?  Or, is it just really hard to translate the rhythm and feeling of spoken word poetry into text?

Probably the latter.  How can I be so certain?  Because I frickin’ love Blythe Baird’s readings.  Actually, on that note, if at any point you struggle with identifying a poem’s rhythm I would recommend googling whether there’s a video, or audio clip, of the poet performing the peice.  No one can better articulate the flow of a poem than the one who wrote it.

If My Body Could Speak could come under the umbrella categorisation of feminist poetry but that almost seems like doing the work a disservice.  Baird’s topics are deeply personal; sexuality and homophobia, body image and eating disorders, surviving sexual assault and rape culture.  All feminist topics but laid out raw, and honest in their experience*.  While a poem may appeal to a wider issue, and these may be the feelings of one woman, they speak to the reality shared by most women.  Young or old, we’ve all bit our lips when we’ve wanted to shout, felt the pang of disappointment when a male friend is misogynistic, or cried over obstacles we were never meant to overcome.  The reader can feel Baird in her work and it resonates like a tuning fork.

Due to the topics and style, comparisons might be drawn with amanda lovelace, and if you’ve previously enjoyed lovelace’s work do use that as a guide.  I found, however, that Baird writes with a voice that is rich and vivid, that is accessible without pretension.  Importantly for me, her poems take up space.  The majority of the poems are one or two pages long, there are no pages of one or two lines that read like discarded song lyrics or Instagram stories.  Something I found difficult to digest with other collections of modern poetry.  Yes, there is a little awkward use of the tab and enter key trying to match the spoken rhythm but not at all to the point of being clumsy or unreadable.  In fact I had a hard time putting the collection down.

Whether you’re here for the #MeToo relevancy or simple validation that, yes, someone out there too is frustrated with skirt length dress code violations, Blythe Baird’s second collection of poems is goldust.  Brief, precious, and dammit if I don’t want more.

Get your copy of ‘If My Body Could Speak’ here.

 

Baird – pronounced bared?  Bird?  Bard?  Appropriate that a poet would have a name that could have three meanings.

*trigger/content warnings as appropriate.  While Baird is not explicitly graphic, the poems are distinct enough they could be upsetting for some, particularly in the case where Baird writes of sexual assault.

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I received my copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review, all opinions my own etc etc

Like my reviews? You can read all of them, and more, over at my blog!

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All about those flaming flowers that brightly blaze. The Sunflowers Are Mine by Martin Bailey

Did you get the lyric reference?  I really hope so.  If you did, I like you, you are my type of people.

In a once-in-a-blue-moon serendipitous alignment of my reading progress and actual worldly events, I finished my most recent NetGalley request on the 30th of March – Vincent van Gogh’s birthday.

If you weren’t already aware – and why would you, this is a pokey little blog on an empty corner of the internet – I am something of a Vincent fan.  In fact I’ve made an entire video all about the books, films, and tear jerking Doctor Who episode I think everyone should look up if they’re interested in that dear Dutchman.

 

I make no apologies for my enthusiasm or amateurishness.

So, you can imagine my dorky little delight when I found out a few days prior a new exhibition opened at the Tate Britain Van Gogh and Britain.

The exhibition brings together the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings to the UK for nearly a decade, including some of his most famous works like Starry Night on the Rhône and, on loan from the National Gallery, Sunflowers.

It’s on until August the 11th, all the prices and times are listed in the link above.  I am already forwarding it to friends and family in the hopes I can convinced them to trade a peaceful evening for a walk around a gallery while I chew their ear off about Van Gogh.

Now, speaking of sunflowers…

The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece by Martin Bailey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece by Martin Bailey, a re-edition of the 2013 book of the same name, takes Vincent van Gogh’s iconic flower and examines, the hows, whos, and wheres of those famous paintings.

The book is comprised of essentially two halves. The first examines how Van Gogh came to choose the sunflower, his influences, Van Gogh’s situation when he painted each of the seven canvases. The second half follows the story of each painting once they left the easel, both their own adventures through galleries and wars, and as a wider look at their influence on modern art.

As I would expect from someone who has written several books on Van Gogh, Bailey’s investigation of the sunflower still-lifes is thorough, enlightening, and clearly painstakingly researched. I did find the tail-end of the second half a little dry, the story behind a painting petered out to a perfunctory description but I can’t hold that against the author; only so much can be written about a painting that has sat peacefully in a gallery or on someone’s wall for years. Otherwise the text is very readable, whether you have a casual interest in Van Gogh or are an art history student. I have read quite a bit about Van Gogh already and even I found myself learning something new. For example, I was not aware of the painting Five Sunflowers existed, let alone had been destroyed in Japan in 1945 during an air raid. Fortunately it was photographed in colour in 1921, and is featured in this book, in all the jewel-like intensity emblematic of Van Gogh, making it the first time it has been reproduced outside of Japan.

The reproduced pictures are almost worth buying the book alone. Vincent’s paintings are printed in marvellous, glossy and vivid detail. Even though they are digital reproductions you really get to share the sense of all those 1880s gallery goers shocked out of a pastel stupor. With pictures to reference to a reader can clearly see where Van Gogh influenced others, or where he found inspiration, as well as a visual context to contemporary art movement. There are also brilliant, fascinating photographs where possible. There was one in particular that stood out; a photograph of the artist’s nephew, Vincent Willem ‘the Engineer’ van Gogh, from 1973 at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. An elderly man in a black and white photograph but it immediately reminded me Toulouse-Lautrec’s 1887 Portrait of Vincent van Gogh. It completely struck me, seeing an actual person – not a painting – that was only one generational step away from such a key figure in modern art.

Martin Bailey has written a wonderful exploration of Vincent van Gogh and some of the most famous sunflowers in history. An informative read and utterly beautiful, I think it would be suitable either as an introduction to Vincent’s life or as part of a deeper study, and highly recommend The Sunflowers Are Mine.

Maybe pick it up from the Tate Britain gift shop on your way out of the exhibit

~

I received my copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review, all opinions my  own etc etc

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Yes, yes I am including a gratuitous Doctor Who gif

Take me back to Titanic. Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage by Hugh Brewster

We’re only a fortnight away from April and I’ve already read three books about the Titanic. Don’t worry, I won’t put you through three posts.  Two of the three have been passenger accounts, The Loss of the Titanic by Lawrence Beesley, and Women of the Titanic Disaster by Sylvia Caldwell, both second class passengers who survived the disaster.  While I have opinions on them as pieces of literature, it doesn’t feel quite right to review them.  After all they are personal accounts of one of the world’s worst maritime disasters and biggest losses of life at sea before the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff in 1945.

My journey with Titanic began long before James Cameron convinced Hollywood to build him replica in Mexico*.  The Titanic is a favourite topic of my father’s, our staircase is a mini exhibit of paintings, a reproduction of the ship’s bell, an airfix model that I glance at every time I leave my bedroom, and I know there is more to the collection in the loft.  Unsurprisingly the interest passed on to me.  Apart from getting to see the ship intact (for which I’m very thankful to the team behind Titanic: Honor and Glory), I have never wanted to be on the Titanic, I have never wanted to know how I would react to being on a sinking ship.  I have, however, never felt satisfied with just knowing the details of the sinking, I have always been more interested in the people on board.  Who were they, where had they come from, why were they going to America, did they live, did they lose anyone in the sinking, how did they survive?    Enter on the port bow, Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, by Hugh Brewster.

Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World by Hugh Brewster

Much has been written about the sinking of the Titanic and everyone knows the stories, the band playing to the very end, the lack of lifeboats, the freezing water, and so on. In Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World, author Hugh Brewster draws on twenty-five years of experience with the Titanic to explore the lives and times of the ship’s first-class passengers. There are the most famous names of the Titanic story, like Molly Brown and J.J. Astor, and some more unfamiliar, like Frank Millet, all illustrating just what a microcosm of Edwardian society was on board.

Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage can be roughly divided into three; first-class passengers boarding at Cherbourg with biographies of passengers either as they appear in the Titanic story, or in relation to a subject of life on board, such as segueing from ladies evening wear to Lucile Lady Duff Gordon’s life. Up until the collision when the focus is turned to the experience of previously mentioned passengers during the sinking; using both survivor accounts and a certain amount of expert conjecture to piece together the last moments of those who didn’t make it to a lifeboat. Then lastly it deals with the aftermath with short epilogues to the passenger’s stories, what they did with their lives after the sinking, when they died.

It is an incredibly detailed book, exploring histories and lives of passengers that even some ardent Titanic enthusiasts may find themselves learning something new. I certainly did, although having a lifelong curiosity of the Titanic I had barely heard of Archie Butt, Francis Millet and W.T Stead, and certainly not in connection to the ship, and I very much appreciate not having to read over the same quartet of Astor, Strauss, Guggenheim, and Ismay. That is something this book has in spades, evidence that there’s more to the Titanic than the glimpsed details in James Cameron’s movie. However, if you are new to the topic, perhaps have only seen the 1997 film, I don’t think any of the information within will be lost on you. Brewster writes in a style that is accessible, unsurprising perhaps considering he has written middle-grade books also on the Titanic, and can easily be dipped in and out of, or read in long sittings.

I recommend it with a warning, however. If you want a step-by-step guide to daily life on the Titanic as a first-class passenger a la The World of Downton Abbey you might want to stick with Julian Fellowes and A Night to Remember, though I would suggest that book if you’re interested in the Titanic regardless. That’s not to say there is no detail about the voyage, only that I found much of it was used to link one paragraph and another, one passenger and another. In some places the wealth of detail can be difficult to parse through. Biographies of highlighted passengers can be a little drawn out and tangent away, describing the lives of a passenger’s siblings, or a murder one was associated with but not a witness to. If I’m honest there were times when I forgot which passenger was connected to the sentence I was reading. To a degree I wonder if that was caused by the book’s structure, it felt as though Brewster (or his editor…) couldn’t decide whether chapters should be divided by the progress of the voyage, or if each chapter should focus on one passenger in particular.

While a part of me was a little frustrated with the digressions, having finished the book I can see how even the most distantly related person or event was tied to the voyage of the Titanic. It gives an impressive insight to the context of the disaster, both historically and at a more general society level. Teddy Roosevelt’s military aide shared the same deck space with a chairman of the White Star Line; Madeleine Astor, a teen bride to one of the richest men in the world, walked down the iconic grand staircase at the same time as women, such as Lucile Lady Duff Gordon and Edith Rosenbaum/Russell, who were using fashion to assert their independence and agency six years before the Women’s Suffrage would make headline news. Yes, perhaps an opportunity was missed to show the glamour of the Gilded Age; how it was concentrated in one ship whose voyage would signal not only the end of the golden age of transatlantic liners but of Gilded Age itself before it would be shattered by World War One. But, I think the title must be kept in mind, Gilded Lives, not Gilded Voyage. If you are interested in the Edwardian world, in the world of the Titanic’s passengers, then do pick up this book.

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*  Yes, yes, Titanic is my favourite film, sue me, I’m a dumb romantic, Kate Winslet is pretty, and it was the perfect fusion of the Titanic story and 90s lipstick.  And did you know you can see mountains in the background of the famous ‘flying’ scene in the non-remastered edit of the film?

Great Women, Greater Voices. So Here I Am by Anna Russell.

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent. —Madeleine Albright

It’s Women’s History Month in the UK right now, I don’t know if that applies internationally but either way it’s a good time to think about the voices that have been lost to history.  Were they just ignored and failed to be written down?  Were they actively suppressed because of their sex, their gender identity, their race, or their sexuality?  In most cases it would be both, let’s be honest.  Even the Bronte sisters submitted their works under male pseudonyms, works that went on to define Gothic fiction, just in case the mere suggestion of *gasp* the feminine would have their manuscripts ignored as scrap.

In fact there’s a brilliant lecture by Mary Beard on the topic of women’s public voices, “Oh Do Shut Up Dear”, and here’s a link to a transcript and audio version.  If women of the past found getting published hard, getting a spot on a stage or behind a microphone was worse.  So how fortunate is it that I just finished “So Here I Am: Speeches by Great Women to Empower and Inspire” by Anna Russell.

 

So Here I Am: Speeches by great women to empower and inspire by Anna Russell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So here we are, 2019. We know the suffragettes, we know jokes about 70’s feminists burning their bras, and when asked to quote a woman we could probably rattle out “Ain’t I a Woman?” even though Sojourner Truth* never said it. Not exactly a great legacy for 150 so years worth of women’s activism, right?

So Here I Am: Speeches by Great Women to Empower and Inspire by Anna Russell aims to equal the balance. Drawing together some of the defining speeches by notable women of the last two centuries, touching on topics from gender equality, to race, LGBT+, civil and human rights, war, and science.

There is an obvious comparison to be made with Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and I would recommend So Here I Am as a companion for it on your bookshelf. The language is a little denser, so maybe have it on your shelf, not the kids’, but it does follow a very similar structure. Each entry includes a short biography of the speaker with some context of their speech, in e-book this was about a page worth, followed by an illustration (done by Camila Pinheiro) and an extracted version of the speech, again about an e-book’s page worth of text.

Going into it I admit I was worried it might be a little ‘white feminism’s greatest hits’, but Russell’s choices for this compilation give a great view of the scope of women’s activism, both in terms of diversity and their causes. Yes, there are the ‘big names’ like Michelle Obama, and J.K. Rowling, but there are also women you may have heard of but not known why they were influential, and others, like Wangari Maathai, that may be entirely new. In particular Victoria Woodull’s speech struck me for it’s relevancy. Her speech concerned ‘free love’, for contemporaries that meant that a relationship, particularly marriage, be easily dissolved, that the law should not get in the way of love. Even in that vaguest of summary I assume you can see the echoes of the equal marriage debate ongoing still.

The collection also diversifies as it follows a timeline of activism; it might start with Emmeline Pankhurst and Elizabeth I, but it goes on to include women such as Alicia Garza, Asmaa Mahfouz, Wilma Mankiller, and Sylvia Riveria. Further to that, in lieu of an epilogue there is a ‘More Women to Inspire’, encouraging the reader onto discover more women who fought for their cause but due to book space, or rights issues, didn’t get an individual mention.

My only grievance is that where the speeches were excerpted, it sometimes felt as though they’d been edited down a bit too much. I know this may be the fault of various estates/licences/etc only allowing so much to be quoted but some of the speeches still felt sapped. A speech is inspiring not for some choice lines that can be easily quoted, or turned into snippets for the news; the power it builds in the body of the speech, the winding up, before delivering a proverbial knock-out punch. I know, I know, most if not all the included speeches can be found in-full online, and that this book is much more something to dip into for inspiration, or as an appetite wetter; but sometimes the cutting was too exacting and a speech seemed like reading the notes prepped for a Women’s Studies written exam.

So Here I Am: Speeches by Great Women to Empower and Inspire by Anna Russell is a fantastic compilation of outspoken women, and is a wonderful salve if you’ve ever rolled your eyes after seeing the same twenty men, and the same twenty speeches listed ‘the greatest speeches in history’. Whether you have only just found a cause to champion or are a veteran, whether you want to know more female voices or just want some oratorical badasses on standby to empower you, I would heartily recommend making room on your bookshelf for this.

*The speech was transcribed twelve years after the fact, by Frances Gage who wrote Truth as having a southern slave dialect even though she was a lifelong New Yorker. Thankfully the version included in this book is from Truth’s friend, Marius Robinson, which better demonstrates Truth’s articulation.

 

I received my copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review, all opinions my own, etc etc

 

Like my reviews? You can read all of them, and more, over at my blog!
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