OWLS - Older Women and Literature
Books to emotionally and intellectually nourish "older women"
Last to Eat, Last to Learn: My Life in Afghanistan Fighting to Educate Women,
By Pashtana Durani and Tamara Bralo. Citadel: February 20, 2024. 224 pages.
An inspiring account by a young Afghan woman activist who focuses on two major concerns of the modern world: refugees, and girls’ education in non-Western societies.
Please see “Reviews – Non-Fiction”
Act of Forgiveness, by Maura Cheeks. Ballentine Books/Random House, February 13, 2024. 304 pages.
A fictional account of what reparations for slavery might look like to one American family.
Please see “Fiction Reviews.”
The Excitements, by C.J. Wray. William Morrow, 304 pages, January 30, 2024
A thoughtful and entertaining look at life in later years.
Please see “Fiction-Reviews.”
1/30/24
The Excitements, by C. J. Wray. William Morrow Publishers, January 30, 2024. 304 pages.
Fortune Favors the Dead, by Stephen Spotswood. Doubleday, 2020, 324 pages.
1940’s post-war NYC. Two female private investigators. A case of twists and turns. Meet Ms. Lillian Pentecost and Willowjean (Will) Parker. Please see “Reviews, Fiction.”
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, is a novel that brings to life 18th century Maine as a midwife tends to the ills of her neighbors, some physical and others emotional, and deals with the early American legal system and its treatment of women. Please see “Reviews-Fiction.”
12-16-23
Hannah Coulter (See Fiction Reviews) helps end the year on a quiet and reflective note.
11-26-23
A dual biography (please see “Reviews, Non-Fiction”) and two novels (Reviews, Fiction) about early 19th century women who helped transform our understanding of the natural world.
11-18-23
North Woods by Daniel Mason: The forest of western Massachusetts is the setting for linked stories over three centuries. One of my favorite books of the year.
11/6/23
The Trials of Madame Restell recounts the true story of one of the 19th century’s most well-known “female physicians,” who provided abortions and other women’s health services. The story shows how the provision of abortions, practiced by trained women for centuries, became a hotly contentious cause of medical men and pornography activists. Please see the review in the Non-Fiction section.