Gentlewomen's ClubDear fellow gentlewomen,
For my #GWCBookClub reading I would like to introduce two very different (short!) books by two very different women…
I chose one of the few works of Judy Blume for adults, “Wifey”. As an author she built her career on writing for children and teenagers. She was a favorite of mine growing up and her books have amassed a huge readership spanning the 40+ years of her writing. As for the second choice, it’s an essay, “On Europe” by none other than Mrs. Thatcher, which I bought the summer of Brexit and never found the time to read until now. Both books are inspiring and surprisingly entertaining in their own way. Hope they cheer up everyone’s confinement like they did mine :).
(1) Judy Blume – Wifey (fiction)
Judy Blume writes an engaging novel on the ins and outs of marriage in the 1970s from the perspective of a young American woman, who feels that most of her life choices have not been her own. From fraught neuroses to misguided affairs, the reader follows Sandy through what is ultimately an uplifting story about coming to terms with one’s path in life. Also a stark reminder of how different life was for women merely 40 years ago, and how much feminism has done for all of us.
(2) Margaret Thatcher – On Europe (non-fiction)
A short excerpt from her memoirs, On Europe is a shrewdly argued essay on why Britain got a “bad deal” from the EU and how “taking back control” was seen as a necessary course of action for British Conservatives even back in 2002, when the memoir was first published. Whatever opinion one might hold of the “iron lady” and her political career, the brilliance of her writing is apparent for even the greatest believers in the European project. Also interesting to see how far back some of the main Brexit arguments go and where they originated.
I hope you will consider these books as one of your next reading and I look forward to discussing them with you through the Gentlewomen’s Club.
Stay safe.
Marija
