Women who behave badly delight me. My mother is Polish and I was raised by a formidable group of great aunts who gathered in flannelette nighties and curlers, in a cloud of cigarette smoke, to play cards into the early hours, fuelled by vodka shots and ginger cake. Survivors of Nazi invasion and atrocities, they were loud, effusive, argumentative, unapologetic, loving, and fiercely loyal. I explore difficult territory through my stories, but I have great faith in humanity. My characters are strong women, bold in the face of challenges. Love and loyalty are the keys to their survival.
As a young woman, the protagonists of feminist fiction offered me bold heroines with more than a bit of oomph who weren’t afraid to get it wrong sometimes. Having completed a degree in literary fiction, desperate for something fun and frivolous, I stumbled upon Fanny Hackabout Jones. A foundling brought up by British aristocrats, she is forced to flee and seek her fortune, encountering witches, highwaymen, prostitutes, and pirates. This unashamed sexy romp presents as pulp fiction, but it’s thoroughly researched and informative, and has something to say about women and their role in society, then and now. A real treat of a book.
Discovered on the doorstep of a country estate in Wiltshire, England, the infant Fanny is raised to womanhood by her adoptive parents, Lord and Lady Bellars. Fanny wants to become the epic poet of the age, but her plans are dashed when she is ravished by her libertine stepfather. Fleeing to London, Fanny falls in with idealistic witches and highwaymen who teach her of worlds she never knew existed. After toiling in a London brothel that caters to literati, Fanny embarks on a series of adventures that teach her what she must know to live and prosper as a woman.…
The title of the book and the stylish cover design offer the first taste of its delicious content. I love a proper story, rich with details that conjure a heightened world and allow me to feel immersed within it. The sort of book you can’t wait to get back to. Extraordinary characters, glamour, danger, and adventure. And such beautiful writing – the language and rhythm sweep you along like a musical score. All that and a charismatic, inspiring heroine who overcomes monumental obstacles during a significant and distinctive period of European history. This book is a delightful, sensory experience. I recommended it to my book group and it did not disappoint.
As the clock chimed the turn of the twentieth century, Lilly Nelly Aphrodite took her first breath. Born to a cabaret dancer and soon orphaned in a scandalous murder-suicide, Lilly finds refuge at a Catholic orphanage, coming under the wing of Sister August, the first in a string of lost loves. There she meets Hanne Schmidt, a teen prostitute, and forms a bond that will last them through tumultuous love affairs, disastrous marriages, and destitution during the First World War and the subsequent economic collapse. As the century progresses, Lilly and Hanne move from the tawdry glamour of the tingle-tangle…
Another book with a delicious cover. I have long since lent my copy out and it never made its way back to me, but I remember the distinctive image of a woman in a black mask. Fairy tales offer dark female characters with a complexity that lends itself to further exploration. Zenia is the Robber Bride of the title and you don’t have to know the fairy tale to guess the story. Three friends share their accounts of how Zenia betrayed them in different ways. The reader forms a vivid picture of Zenia, but also the individual narrators. And there is a thrilling contemporary element to the narrative that propels the story.
Zenia is beautiful, smart and greedy, by turns manipulative and vulnerable, needy and ruthless; a man's dream and a woman"s nightmare. She is also dead. Just to make sure Tony, Roz andd Charis are there for the funeral. But five years on, as the three women share an indulgent, sisterly lunch, the unthinkable happens; 'with waves of ill will flowing out of her like cosmic radiation', Zenia is back...
My memory of this book is a little overshadowed by the superb TV adaptation with Pam Ferris, but it remains a firm favourite. Along with all of Fay Weldon’s books, this is a playful feminist challenge to a woman’s lot. Fay Weldon’s wit is brutally incisive and her observations of the male/female dynamic are simultaneously hilarious and alarming. This foray into something a little more magical is wonderful. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Ruth Patchett had no idea what she was capable of until her husband betrayed her…. I won’t spoil it by telling you more. Suffice to say, Ruth refuses to be a victim!
'A savage, sadistic even, but beautifully and compellingly written satire' Sunday Express
Ruth Patchett never thought of herself as particularly devilish.
'The fun grows steadily blacker and wilder' Guardian
Rather the opposite in fact - simply a tall, not terribly attractive woman living a quiet life as a wife and mother in a respectable suburb. But when she discovers that her husband is having a passionate affair with the lovely romantic novelist Mary Fisher, she is so seized by envy that she becomes truly diabolic. Within weeks she has burnt down the family home, collected the insurance, made love to…
Oh how I love this book! And I have continued to love it, returning to the story with my children. Such vibrant characters and wonderful observations of human behaviour. I read all the sequels. I fell in love with Prince Edward Island and the gorgeous Gilbert. Anne Shirley was the first audacious, outspoken, maverick female voice I encountered. Her capacity for love and the love she invokes in her hardened adoptive mother, Marilla, still bring me to tears. Her connection with the gentle Matthew, her indignant rage at the unfairness of life, and her dream and determination to find something better were inspirational to me. My own daughters are adopted and I swear there is a bit of Anne in both of them.
Anne of Green Gables is the classic children's book by L M Montgomery, the inspiration for the Netflix Original series Anne with an E. Watch it now!
Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are in for a big surprise. They are waiting for an orphan boy to help with the work at Green Gables - but a skinny, red-haired girl turns up instead. Feisty and full of spirit, Anne Shirley charms her way into the Cuthberts' affection with her vivid imagination and constant chatter. It's not long before Anne finds herself in trouble, but soon it becomes impossible for the Cuthberts to…
Sometimes a love story needs more than one lifetime. And love stories come in many forms. A shy English woman’s love for a Polish pilot remains unrequited but has far-reaching consequences. A Cold War friendship conducted by post results in a life-changing gift. Two women pull together in adversity to raise a child. A local lad falls in love with an exotic visitor, but the secrets they both keep may destroy them. Margaret Thwaite is the thread that connects these characters, but can she bring their stories to a happy ever after? Set on a Lake District peninsula in Morecambe Bay, this is an extraordinary tale of migration, salvaged families, and the search for home.
As an American widow flush with cash, she has hopes of finding the burning, passionate love she never experienced in her marriage. But instead, she found The Ladies Alpine Society, and is now pressed into planning a fundraising ball with the expedition’s accountant, Leo Moon. Prudence feels out of her depth, but glad to have a partner-in-crime to help her navigate British culture. But the taciturn Mr. Moon doesn’t like her—or does he like her too much?
Prudence Cabot sailed to Europe to find a lover.. As an American widow flush with cash, she has hopes of finding the burning, passionate love she never experienced in her marriage. But instead, she found The Ladies Alpine Society, and is now pressed into planning a fundraising ball with the expedition’s accountant, Leo Moon. Prudence feels out of her depth, but glad to have a partner-in-crime to help her navigate British culture. But the taciturn Mr. Moon doesn’t like her—or does he like her too much?. One look and she saw right through him.. Leo Moon is not his real…
