Feminism and feminist theory Books

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Book Synopsis*A WATERSTONES 'BEST POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR'**A TIMES 'BEST PHILOSOPHY AND IDEAS' BOOK OF 2021**A GUARDIAN 'BEST POLITICS BOOKS OF THE YEAR'*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 BUSINESS BOOK AWARD'A brilliant manifesto explaining why women are still so underestimated and overlooked in today's world, but how we can also be hopeful for change' - Philippa Perry'An impassioned, meticulously argued and optimistic call to arms for anyone who cares about creating a fairer society' - Observer__________Imagine living in a world in which you were routinely patronised by women.Imagine having your views ignored or your expertise frequently challenged by them.Imagine people always addressing the woman you are with before you.Now imagine a world in which the reverse of this is true.The Authority Gap provides a startling perspective on the unseen bias at work in our everyday lives, to reveal the scale of the gap that still persists between men and women. Would you believe that US Supreme Court Justices are interrupted four times more often than male ones... 96% of the time by men? Or that British parents, when asked to estimate their child's IQ will place their son at 115 and their daughter at 107?Marshalling a wealth of data with precision and insight, and including interviews with pioneering women such as Baroness Hale, Mary Beard and Bernadine Evaristo, Mary Ann exposes unconscious bias in this fresh feminist take on how to address and counteract systemic sexism in ways that benefit us all.Includes interviews with pioneering women such as:Baroness HaleMary BeardBernadine EvaristoMary McAleeseJulia GillardDolly Alderton and Pandora SykesCherie BlairLiz TrussAmber RuddFrances MorrisLaura Bates__________'Hugely exciting' - Emily Maitlis'Deeply researched, profoundly thoughtful and a book very much for the here and now: Mary Ann Sieghart's The Authority Gap is the book she was probably born to write' - Andrew Marr'At last here is a credible roadmap that is capable of taking women from the margins to the centre by bridging the authority gap that holds back even the best and most talented of women. - Mary McAleese, Former President of IrelandTrade ReviewHere is a brilliant manifesto explaining why women are still so underestimated and overlooked in today's world, but how we can also be hopeful for change. * Philippa Perry *Just in case anyone still thinks the patriarchy is a figment of feminist imagination, this book will prove otherwise. Everyone needs to read The Authority Gap because in order to change our culture, we need to fully recognise the problem. * Bernadine Evaristo *An impassioned, meticulously argued and optimistic call to arms for anyone who cares about creating a fairer society. * Observer *Persuasive, arresting, punchy and incisive. * The Sunday Times *Crackling with controlled anger, it features some eye-popping stories and a stellar cast of interviewees, from presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt to the novelist Bernardine Evaristo. Buy it for any woman ever talked over in a meeting, or patronised by a man who knows less than them. -- Gaby Hinsliff * Guardian Best Political Books of 2021 *Deeply researched, profoundly thoughtful and a book very much for the here and now: Mary Ann Sieghart's The Authority Gap is the book she was probably born to write. It is both a warning tract for bombastic, dismissive men, and a cheerful manual for all ambitious women. * Andrew Marr *In The Authority Gap, Mary Ann Sieghart combines an absorbing review of the contemporary evidence on the systematic undervaluing of women with some powerful new insights. Whether you know a little or a lot about sexism and misogyny, there is much to learn from this book, including some very practical tips on creating change that you can implement the minute after you turn the last page. * Julia Gillard, Former Prime Minister of Australia *Fascinating, powerful...the subject is very close to my heart. * Elif Shafak *Hugely exciting. * Emily Maitlis *At last here is a credible roadmap that is capable of taking women from the margins to the centre by bridging the authority gap that holds back even the best and most talented of women. Read this and weep at what we are wasting. Read this and believe we can fly on two wings and soon. * Mary McAleese, Former President of Ireland *Well-written, illuminating... has some excellent statistics and arguments to understand better the gap that harms even very successful women. * FT *Fascinating, thorough, empowering... One of those books that takes something ubiquitous, that many have become desensitised to, and slowly exposes its far-reaching implications. * Guardian *You have to read this book. Honestly, you really do. Because if you don't, you won't know what life is really like. Whether you are a man or a woman, you are going to see your life as a parent, a partner, a colleague quite differently. * Daniel Finkelstein *This is an essential account of structural sexism and the price it exacts - but it is so much more. In her extensive research and command of the evidence, Mary Ann Sieghart delivers nothing less than a modern map of the way we live, think and interact - and how we can do so much better. A must-read by one of the most important public intellectuals at work today. * Matthew d'Ancona, Editor and Partner, Tortoise Media *Sieghart demonstrates through meticulous use of the research data that these manly sins are disproportionately likely to be directed by men against women, and that their cumulative effect can sometimes be enormous. * The Times *All men stand to benefit from this book, by becoming more self-aware. But it is also a great guide to how to work and live together more productively, by understanding our fellow human-beings better, be they female or male, colleagues, friends or family. * Bill Emmott *Passionate...gives plenty of evidence that the issue still matters. * Daily Mail *Captivating account of how sexism is still rife in the corridors of power. Sieghart writes with empathy, clarity and passion. The book is enormously authoritative, knitting together academic studies with interviews of leading public figures. * Irish Independent *Really thought-provoking and challenging. Every man should read it, and then become consciously more deferential to women who know more than you. * Johann Hari *Eye opening and gloriously galvanising ... Impassioned, meticulously argued and optimistic * Zoella *

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Book Synopsis''A startling heroine'' SARAH MOSS, author of Summerwater ''A vividly female perspective on the Wars of the Roses'' IMOGEN HERMES GOWER, author of The Mermaid and Mr Hancock''Wolf Hall for the 2020s'' MANDA SCOTT, author of Boudica ''Absorbing'' TIMES __________________________________ 1431 is a dangerous time for a woman to be defiant. England has been fighting France for 100 years. At home, power-hungry men within a corrupt government manipulate a weak king - and name Cecily''s husband, York''s loyal duke, an enemy. As the king''s grasp on sanity weakens, plots to destroy York take root... It will take all of Cecily''s courage and cunning to save her family. But when the will to survive becomes ambition for a crown, will she risk treason to secure it? Inside closed bedchambers and upon bloody battlefields, CECILY portrays war as women fight it.TO COTrade ReviewA startling heroine -- Sarah MossIn vigorous, direct prose Garthwaite grippingly resurrects a remarkable woman * Sunday Times *Utterly compelling, this brilliant novel shines a light into a dark corner of our history and reclaims the voice and story of a powerful and forgotten woman. A phenomenal read. I loved it -- Liz Hyder, author of The GiftsHas the new Hilary Mantel arrived? * Sunday Telegraph *I look forward to hearing more from Annie Garthwaite and Cecily * Times *Cecily is a vivid and compelling portrait of a formidable figure from the 15th century and a heroine for our times * Big Issue *In Garthwaite's hands, Neville proves as Machiavellian, manipulative and era-defining as any man * Noon *Cecily stalks the corridors of power like a female Thomas Cromwell. A vividly female perspective on the Wars of the Roses - what a feat -- Imogen Hermes GowarAn extraordinary achievement . . . I could touch and breathe Cecily's world as if I was walking in her shadow -- Carol McGrathCECILY is the WOLF HALL for the 2020s... marks the start of a stellar career -- Manda ScottI loved it . . . Annie Garthwaite writes about the past with a kind of restrained, earthy vim, and with the sort of intimacy and immediacy - and empathy - that can only come from graft and craft -- Toby Clements

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Book SynopsisWhen Chris Kraus, an unsuccessful artist pushing 40, spends an evening with a rogue academic named Dick, she falls madly and inexplicably in love, enlisting her husband in her haunted pursuit. Dick proposes a kind of game between them, but when he fails to answer their letters Chris continues alone, transforming an adolescent infatuation into a new form of philosophy. Blurring the lines of fiction, essay and memoir, Chris Kraus's novel was a literary sensation when it was first published in 1997. Widely considered to be the most important feminist novel of the past two decades, I Love Dick is still essential reading; as relevant, fierce and funny as ever.Trade ReviewI know there was a time before I read Chris Kraus's I Love Dick (in fact, that time was only five years ago), but it's hard to imagine; some works of art do this to you. They tear down so many assumptions about what the form can handle (in this case, what the form of the novel can handle) that there is no way to re-create your mind before your encounter with them -- Sheila HetiThe intelligence and honesty and total originality of Chris Kraus make her work not just great but indispensable - especially now, when everything is so confusing, so full of despair. I read everything Chris Kraus writes; she softens despair with her brightness, and with incredible humor, too. -- Rachel KushnerI Love Dick is a classic. Here pain is the aphrodisiac and distance is the muse. Unrequited love is transformed into a fascinating book of ideas. -- Zoe PilgerEver since I read I Love Dick, I have revered it as one of the most explosive, revealing, lacerating and unusual memoirs ever committed to the page ... I Love Dick is never a comfortable read, and it is by turns exasperating, horrifying, and lurid, but it is never less than genuine, and often completely illuminating about the life of the mind. -- Rick MoodyI Love Dick is written in a clear prose capable of theoretical clarity, descriptive delicacy, articulate rage and melancholic longing * White Review *Tart, brazen and funny ... a cautionary tale, I Love Dick raises disturbing but compelling questions about female social behavior, power, control * Nation *For years before I read it, I kept hearing about Chris Kraus's I Love Dick. I mainly heard about it from smart women who liked to talk about their feelings ... I didn't understand exactly what it was, but it had an allure, like whispers about a dance club that only opened under the full moon, or an underground bar you needed a password to get into ... then I read it. I was nearly two decades late to the party - I Love Dick came out in 1997 - but I loved the party anyway. I was finally part of it, and it made me feel even more part of it - part of something ... I was holding white-hot text in my hands -- Leslie Jamison * New Yorker *I Love Dick is one of the most important books about being a woman ... Friends speak of Kraus's work in the same breathless and conspiratorial way they discuss Elena Ferrante's novels of female friendship set in Naples. The clandestine clubbishness that envelopes women who've read and immersed themselves in the texts shows how little female desire, anger and vulnerability is accurately and confidently explored in literature and culture ... the book reveals far deeper truths than standard and uncomplicated love plots tend to. -- Dawn Foster * Independent *This is the most important book written about men and women written in the last century... why is this revolutionary 18-year-old book finding its biggest audience only now? The answer lies in its own pages, when Kraus writes that "who gets to speak, and why, is the only question". In the last half a decade, women have been permitted to speak in a different way than before; women artists who use details of their own lives in their work are not as easily dismissed as they once were. The internet enables hordes of frightened, anonymous men to try to silence women via harassment and shaming, but it has also enabled our voices to be heard on a grander scale, with fewer intermediaries, than ever before. We are able to write our own letters to Dick now, and to publish them widely: to tell Dick exactly what we think of him, whether he likes it or not.This book will only become more relevant. Its time is now - and now, and now, for the rest of eternity. -- Emily Gould * Guardian *This book comes with a reputation, though it's not the one you might expect from the title, which leaps from the gorgeous, faux-innocent cover. Chris Kraus's "novel" was first published in the US in 1997 and has become recognised as both an influential feminist text and a key intervention in the debate over where life-writing ends and fiction begins ... What remains so brilliant about the book is the real, useful thought that Kraus builds out of her romantic fantasy ... You can call it a novel, then, but it's as a philosophical and cultural critique that I Love Dick bites hardest. -- Jonathan Gibbs * Independent *Read this on the bus - we dare you * Sunday Times Style *One of the most important feminist novels of the past two decades - -- Eva Wiseman * Observer Magazine *A joyful riposte to all those stories in which clever women fall victim to the pressures of convention - from The Yellow Wallpaper to The Bell Jar and beyond - and also to the countless books by men in which women are crushed by romantic encounters: from Madame Bovary to Anna Karenina to Laclos's epistolatory Les Liaisons Dangereuses and André Breton's autofiction, Nadja ... What makes now the right moment to publish Kraus's debut novel for the first time in the UK, after 18 years? There is a hint of retrospective gratitude: without Kraus, we might not have had the philosophers in high heels of Zoe Pilger's Eat My Heart Out, or Susana Medina's Philosophical Toys. Without her challenge to what she called "the 'serious' contemporary hetero-male novel ... a thinly veiled Story of Me", Sheila Heti might never have asked How Should a Person Be?, and Ben Lerner might never have written Leaving the Atocha Station. A whole generation of writers owes her ... You can get high on the book's passion, its humour, on the creation of a still-fresh style that not only says new things about female experience, but is able simultaneously to comment, tongue-in-cheek, on how this experience has been written, filmed and made into art. Kraus writes with an elegance that includes enough rough edges to make I Love Dick a game for real. - -- Joanna Walsh * Guardian *A literary must-have accessory, a relentlessly clever-clever book at fits neatly into the radical space recently opened up by semi-autobiographical novelists such as Nell Zink and Elena Ferrante ... It has some hugely arresting things to say about women's relationships with creative self-determination. -- Claire Allfree * Metro *The skill of the book allows the reader to enter into the fantasy (the one sex scene is torturous, but hot) while knowing it's destructive and one-sided. Chris recognises how vulnerable - ridiculous even - infatuation has made her. But she glories in the surrender ... This is a brilliant, experimental rollercoaster of a book ... there's something radical about a woman who pushes herself to the edge, finally to recover. -- Liz Hoggard * Observer *Genre-defying and dare I say it seminal ... It has possibly even more to tell us now than it did on first publication - or perhaps we're just more ready to hear it ... I Love Dick is one of the most important books about the limited ways in which women are permitted to speak. -- Lauren Elkin * TLS *I Love Dick is a wonderful catalogue of contradiction and desire, which benefits from the flexible and imaginative excess of its starting point: infatuation. It's also extremely funny and frantically absorbing. -- Anakana Schofield * Irish Times *A formidable novel of ideas * New Statesman *As important as Mrs Dalloway or The Bell Jar * Elle *What I Love Dick is really about is chaotic female sexuality and the ethics of using your life in your work ... it is soaked in feminist rage -- Hadley Freeman * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA vital feminist manifesto from one of our most inspiring political voicesTrade Review'A vibrant and compelling framework for feminism in our times' -- Judith Butler‘Powerfully outlines the reasons why mainstream feminism has been failing and excluding women of colour since its conception’ -- Hanna Bechiche, gal-dem'Brilliant' -- Lola Olufemi, author of 'Feminism, Interrupted' (Pluto, 2020)'Anchored in a deep commitment to justice and liberation, Vergès’s writing encourages us to open our minds and think with our hearts about the many ways the world oppresses and destroys, and about the things that are done, everyday and everywhere, to resist this and make it otherwise' -- 'Bad Form''A powerful tool of social transformation' -- Djamila Ribeiro, Brazilian human rights activist and author of 'Nos, Madelenas: uma palavra pelo feminism' (Fonte, 2012)‘Incisive… an invitation to reconnect with the utopian power of feminism’ -- Aurelien Maignant, 'Fabula'‘A powerful work’ -- 'Les Inrocks''Develops a critical perspective on feminism to reconsider the conditions of possibility and purpose… resituates feminism in a truly political, emancipatory and critical dimension’ -- Jean-Philippe Cazier, 'Diacritik''Essential for highlighting the current divisions within feminist political agendas, and for collective reflection on a profound, radical transformation of society… Necessary reading.' -- 'Axelle n°219''A feminist narrative of how decolonization is a never-ending struggle!' -- Veronica Gago, co-author of 'A Feminist Reading of Debt' (Pluto, 2021)Table of ContentsPreface Translator’s Introduction Introduction: Invisible, They “Open the City” 1. Taking Sides: Decolonial Feminism 2. The Evolution towards Twenty-First Century - Civilizational Feminism Notes Index

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Book SynopsisWhat has made women unhappy in the last decade? Faludi writes ''is not their equality'' - which they don''t yet have - but the rising pressure to halt, even worse, women''s quest for that equality.Trade ReviewFaludi uses her dazzling investigative powers to zap the smug detractors of feminism, the hypocrites, backsliders, and antifeminists. The result is a rich and juicy read, informed by powerful logic and moral clarity -- Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and DimedPersuasive, fair, entertaining, wonderfully informed, diverting -- Fay Weldon * Daily Mail *The backlash against women is real. This is the book we need to understand it, to struggle through the battle fatigue and to keep going -- Alice WalkerAs ground-breaking in its own way as its two important predecessors, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, Faludi's book is just as gripping * Newsweek *Recommended as essential reading for both sexes * Today *

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Book Synopsis''Engaging, hilarious and practical - I will proudly proclaim myself a card-carrying member of the FFC'' - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and bestselling author of Lean InThis is a call to arms.Are you aged zero to infinity? Finished with the sexist status quo? Ready to kick ass and take names?Welcome to the Feminist Fight Club. You have lifetime membership.Feminist Fight Club provides an arsenal of weapons for surviving in an unequal world. You will learn how to fight micro-aggressions, correct unconscious bias, deal with male colleagues who can''t stop ''manterrupting'' or ''bro-propriating'' your ideas - and how to lean in without falling the f*ck over.Every woman needs this book - and they needed it yesterday.This is not a drill.Trade ReviewI'll be buying this for any young woman I know starting out on her career ... It is invaluable wisdom * Sunday Times *Seriously useful... Feminist Fight Club is a perfect gift for the friend who just needs a little push to start standing up for herself * Refinery29 *Funny and fresh ... One of those books that every person, not just every woman, should read * Glamour *Feminist Fight Club is engaging, hilarious and practical - full of simple tools for battling workplace sexism that every woman should have at her disposal. Jessica is a unique voice - and I will proudly proclaim myself a card-carrying member of the FFC -- Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and bestselling author of LEAN INA classic, f*ck-you feminist battle guide, with unapologetic strategies for how to get down and strength up with female comrades to fight patriarchy on the daily. Every woman should have a Feminist Fight Club -- Ilana Glazer, comedian and co-creator of BROAD CITYThis book offers the weapons that women need to win the war on inequality. With mighty wit, Jessica Bennett shows women how to defeat the enemies - and men how to stop being enemies. I was not prepared to laugh out loud so many times while learning so much about a serious topic. -- Adam Grant, bestselling author of ORIGINALS and GIVE AND TAKEFeminist Fight Club is a worthy addition to the library of any young female professional or frustrated middle manager-or male coworker who wants to help * Fortune *Lean In conceived as an illustrated guide for millennials. Feminist Fight Club is as grounded in academic research as Lean In... Ms. Bennett manages to convey a remarkable amount of substance briskly and entertainingly... it has performed a huge service not just to its target audience but to the businesses they will be joining. * New York Times *

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Book Synopsis''Zarifa will break your heart'' Christina Lamb, author of Our Bodies, Their Battlefields and I Am MalalaZarifa Ghafari was two years old when the Taliban banned girls from schools, and she began her education in secret. She was seven when American airstrikes began. She was twenty-four when she became the youngest and one of the first female mayors of Maidan Wardak, Kabul. An extremist mob barred her from her office; her male staff walked out in protest; assassins tried to kill her six times. Through it all, Zarifa stood her ground. She ended corruption in the province, promoted peace, and tried to lift up women, despite constant fear for herself and her family. When the Taliban took Kabul in 2021, Ghafari had to flee. But even that couldn''t stop her. Six months later, she returned, to continue her work empowering women.Zarifa is an astonishing memoir that offers an unparalleled perspective of the last two decades in Afghanistan from a citizen, daughter, woman and mayor. Written with honesty, pain, and ultimately, hope, Zarifa describes the work she did, the women she still tries to help as they live under Taliban rule, and her vision for how grassroots activism can change their lives and the lives of women everywhere.Trade ReviewAnyone wanting to know the grim reality of being a woman in Afghanistan and trying to make a difference, could not find a more illuminating book. Zarifa will break your heart. * Christina Lamb, author of Our Bodies, Their Battlefields *Incredible -- Francesca Brown * Stylist *In this earnest and fiery memoir, an activist and politician from Afghanistan recounts how her country's instability marked her life * New York Times *Frank and impassioned, Ghafari's narrative spotlights the power of activism... a remarkable story of perseverance and resilience * Publishers Weekly *Candid, poignant and powerful ... This gripping book can be read at one go and surely is a must buy * Telegraph (India) *This is a simply written and inspiring work that zips along with the pace of an adventure story. You can only be left in awestruck admiration at everything Zarifa has already achieved in her short life. Despite the current situation, you at least feel some hope that Afghanistan's trajectory will have been nudged towards a better tomorrow by her unceasing vision for a just and corruption-free homeland' -- Olivia Edward * Geographical Magazine *[Ghafari] tells her inspiring life story with sincerity and passion, providing a nuanced and, at times, horrifying glimpse into Afghanistan's devastating history ... A searingly honest, profoundly courageous memoir of one fearless woman's fight for her homeland * Kirkus *Zarifa's words, like her life, are an act of courage, weaving heartache with hope. They illuminate all the things we take for granted, especially the ordinary moments, the daily freedoms and most intimate of relationships. They illuminate the threads that connect our rights, freedoms, and happiness into an interconnected whole. * Shubhangi Swarup, Tata Prize winning author of Latitudes of Longing *Zarifa Ghafari's story is one of strength in the face of adversity. She perfectly captures the tragic reversal of fortune over the past year in Afghanistan as the Taliban have once again risen to power. Everyone should read this inspirational and heart-wrenching account of life in Afghanistan for women. * Layla Moran, MP *

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Book SynopsisSocial Work: From Theory to Practice provides a critical introduction to core and emerging theories of social work. This edition introduces a cultural lens through which to interrogate theory. A new chapter on Aboriginal perspectives teaches students how to decolonise their practice and provide socially just outcomes for communities.Table of Contents1. Social work knowledge, theory and practice; 2. Frameworks, models and practice; 3. Reimagining social work from an Aboriginal theoretical perspective Shawana Andrews; 4. Systems theories: ecological and crisis intervention approaches; 5. Onion-peeling theories: psychodynamic and person-centred approaches; 6. Faulty-engine theories: behavioural, cognitive behavioural and mindfulness approaches; 7. Story-telling theories: strengths-based, narrative and solution-focused approaches; 8. Mountain-moving theories: feminist, decolonising and anti-oppressive approaches; 9. Reflective practice and theory; Concluding thoughts.

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Book Synopsis'This is what I really want. I want to discover ways to discriminate the important things in human life. I want to find ways of getting past this blind fumbling with existence.' - Marion Milner, from A Life of Oneâs Own.How often do we really ask ourselves, 'What will make me happy? What do I really want from life?' In A Life of Oneâs Own Marion Milner, a renowned British psychoanalyst, artist and autobiographer, takes us on an extraordinary and compelling seven-year inward journey to discover what it is that makes her happy.On its first publication, W. H. Auden found the book 'as exciting as a detective story' and, as Milner searches out clues, the reader quickly becomes involved in the chase. Using her own personal diaries, she analyses moments of everyday life that can bring surprising joy, such as walking, listening to music, and drawing. She also records, in a disarmingly clear and insightful manner, the struggle between the urge to order and

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Book Synopsis''A must-read eye-opener that makes you laugh, cry, get angry and get happy on every page. It''s magnificent'' Bob Mortimer''I fall passionately in love with absolutely every single thing Caitlin Moran writes - and I''ve fallen very hard for this book... Eye-opener, page-turner, women-translator, guy-empowerer - put like that, I hope you''ll agree it''s incredibly reasonably priced'' Marina Hyde''Our greatest modern writer on women turns her eyes on men - and it''s all good'' David BaddielAs any feminist who talks about the problems of girls and women will know, the first question you will ever be asked is ''But what about MEN?'' After eleven years of writing bestsellers about women and dismissing this question, having been very sure that the concerns of feminism and men are very different things, Caitlin Moran realised that this wasn''t quite right, and that the problems of feminism are also the problems of, yes, men.So, w

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Book SynopsisIn her most impassioned and personal book to date, Judith Butler responds in this profound appraisal of post-9/11 America to the current US policies to wage perpetual war, and calls for a deeper understanding of how mourning and violence might instead inspire solidarity and a quest for global justice.Trade ReviewIt's clear that its author is still interested in stirring up trouble-academic, political and otherwise. * Bookforum *A book that shines with the splendor of engaged thought. * Brooklyn Rail *Here is a unique voice of courage and conceptual ambition that addresses public life from the perspective of psychic reality, encouraging us to acknowledge the solidarity and the suffering through which we emerge as subjects of freedom. -- Homi K. BhabhaJudith Butler is quite simply one of the most probing, challenging, and influential thinkers of our time. -- J.M. Bernstein

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Book SynopsisWomen are in a bind. In the name of consent and empowerment, they must proclaim their desires clearly and confidently. Yet sex researchers suggest that women's desire is often slow to emerge. And men are keen to insist that they know what women-and their bodies-want. Meanwhile, sexual violence abounds. How can women, in this environment, possibly know what they want? And why do we expect them to?In this elegant, searching book-spanning science and popular culture; pornography and literature; debates on Me-Too, consent and feminism-Katherine Angel challenges our assumptions about women's desire. Why, she asks, should they be expected to know their desires? And how do we take sexual violence seriously, when not knowing what we want is key to both eroticism and personhood?In today's crucial moment of renewed attention to violence and power, Angel urges that we remake our thinking about sex, pleasure, and autonomy without any illusions about perfect self-knowledge. Only then will we fulfil Michel Foucault's teasing promise, in 1976, that 'tomorrow sex will be good again'Trade ReviewThe real joy lies in the artfulness with which she uses these intimate episodes as a way of unwrapping the larger issue of what it means to be a woman, both object and subject of desire. -- Olivia Laing * The Guardian *Offers an arresting mix of diaristic experiences with her lover . . . and heady reflections from feminist thinkers like Susan Sontag and Virginia Woolf. A genre-busting nonfiction account that reads like poetry, revels in ambiguity, and intentionally defies definition, the book explores the slippery emotions of sex in fiery, collage-like scenes intended to reconcile the contradictory 'metaphors we love by.' * O Magazine *Ghostly and poetic . . . [A] thinking woman's meditation on sexual desire. * Publishers Weekly *Unconventional, deeply personal . . . often poetic. * The New Yorker *Angel embraces the impossibility of extricating fact from feeling. -- Julia Klein * The Boston Globe *One of the most insightful and articulate writers at work today. -- Lauren Elkin, author of Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, andIn this impressive and intelligent examination of the father figure, Angel expertly intersects the subject with feminism, mythology, Donald Winnicott, Brett Kavanaugh and more. Her unstinting eye and intellectual vigour make Daddy Issues an engaging interrogation. It feels utterly vital in the context of #MeToo and the political flux the world currently finds itself in. -- Sinead GleesonAn ardent, rigorous, nuanced investigation into the question of consent, at once illuminating and empowering. A truly vital guide to navigating the difficult waters of 21st century desire. -- Olivia LaingThought-provoking ... [Angel's] jargon-free prose and nuanced readings of popular culture and postmodern theory enlighten. Readers will value this lively and incisive inquiry into the sexual dynamics of the #MeToo era. * Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) *One of our most daring, exciting and nuanced writers on the complexities of female desire, pleasure, autonomy and imagination. -- Deborah Levy, author of The Cost of LivingA provocative counterargument to recent feminist dogma. ... Angel raises intriguing questions about commonly accepted assumptions, and she offers reassurance to female readers. * Kirkus Reviews *[Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again] takes a taboo topic and removes the stigma by providing facts. Its titular refrain advocates for a better tomorrow. -- Ashley Holstrom * Foreword Reviews *[Angel] writes about complex questions with such clarity and elegance, and amid all the polarised spats that currently pass for considered debate, her work is a breath of fresh air. [Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again] is a provocative but clear-sighted analysis of female sexuality in the wake of #MeToo ... I'd urge anyone who cares about sexual ethics to read it. -- Bookseller (Editor's Choice) * Caroline Sanderson *Excellent -- Charlotte Higgins * The Guardian *[A] bible of modern sexuality and consent that all men and women should be reading * Evening Standard *She is reaching towards something else: a world where desire does not have to be known and fixed in advance to protect people from violence. -- Hettie O'Brien * Guardian *Tenderly inflected and meticulously argued, Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again should be required reading * New Internationalist - Five Starred Review *A clear-eyed intervention in the crossfire of post-#MeToo sexual politics * TANK Magazine *Voyeuristically fascinating ... Angel dares to suggest that consent is not sexy . we should be aiming for something more complex -- Anna Leszkiewicz * New Statesman *Offers new ways of understanding the complexity of sexual relations . fresh and provoking * The F-Word *Exquisite ... A breathtaking, brilliant invitation not to turn away from complexity and vulnerability -- Hannah Dawson, editor of The Penguin Book of Feminist WritingThis nonfiction tour-de-force is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring themes of consent, power, sex, and the Me Too movement. This is the kind of book that seeks not to create dichotomous binaries, but to complicate the narrative. -- Rachel Krantz * The Millions *Eloquent and lucid -- Celia Walden * Telegraph *Succinct and thought-provoking -- Stephanie Merritt * Observer *Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again offers readers a blend of cultural criticism and provocative theory. -- Tobias Carroll * Inside Hook *Intriguing, philosophical. -- Laura Miller * Slate *One of the smartest, most nuanced and thought-provoking books I've read about sex in the post-#MeToo era. -- Moya Crockett * Stylist *[Angel] is right - consent as a yes/no dichotomy cannot be everything we want it to be. We must recognise that language cannot say everything, especially for women, who have not historically been given the chance to shape it according to their own needs and desires. * The Arts Desk *[Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again is] a necessary contribution to the many conversations about sex and power we have all had since 2017, and Angel's prose, clear and lovely, nimbly navigates the complexities of her subject matter. -- Madeleine Watts * Bookforum *A vital and groundbreaking work that brings nuance to a thorny subject. -- Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett * Guardian *Angel has dissected much of what there is to know about consent, desire, arousal and vulnerability: the four cornerstones of sexuality. Resisting definitive and simplistic conclusions, Angel has been wide-reaching in her research -- Emily S Cooper * Irish Times *Angel not only asks key questions about what women want, but also how we can know what we want. -- Adele Walton * Dazed *

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Book SynopsisDid you know that Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka was the first woman in the world to become a democratically elected prime minister? That Tina Anselmi was a wartime resistance fighter who became the first woman to serve as a cabinet minister in Italy? Or that Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi was the first woman to serve as a prime minister in Africa? It is high time these extraordinary women who helped shape our world became household names, and this book brings them at last to the fore.Women Who Won is a celebration of 70 women from the last 100 years: politicians from around the globe who fought for election in a man’s world… and won. Beautifully illustrated by artist Emmy Lupin, it features well-known figures, including Kamala Harris, Benazir Bhutto, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Jacinda Ardern and Julia Gillard, alongside lesser-known women whose stories are ready to be heard: Shidzue Katō, one of the first women elected to the Diet of Japan Yulia Tymoshenko, the first woman prime minister of Ukraine Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the US Congress Peri-Khan Sofieva, the first democratically elected Muslim woman Ethel Blondin-Andrew, the first Indigenous woman elected to Canadian parliament Women of the past, but also women of the present and future. Women who smashed the political glass ceiling. Women who fought to leave a positive legacy for future generations. Women who paved the way for girls of today to become women who won.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPoignant, witty, comic, and self-deprecating. A laugh-out-loud, lightning quick journey through the years that will resonate with anyone who's ever been young and in love. * Daily Express *Very, very, very funny. Don't hate me when I tell you that Everything I Know About Love is Sex And The City for millennials, because I mean it as high praise * Red *I loved it so much, I wanted it to go on forever, Dolly Alderton is so gifted at making people care. A rare talent * Marian Keyes *Alderton is an old soul - she has learned life lessons while not yet out of her twenties that many of us post-menopausal matrons are still struggling with. A wonderful writer, who will surely inspire a generation the way that Caitlin Moran did before her. * Julie Burchill *I thought I knew a lot about love. Not as much as Dolly. Read as soon as possible. * Sharon Horgan *

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Book Synopsis'Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity' Kate Mosse Virginia Woolf exposes the prejudices and constraints against which women writers struggled for centuries, and argues for a more equal literary establishment. This volume combines two books which were among the greatest contributions to feminist literature this century. Together they form a brilliant attack on sexual inequality. A Room of One's Own, first published in 1929, is a witty, urbane and persuasive argument against the intellectual subjection of women, particularly women writers. The sequel, Three Guineas, is a passionate polemic which draws a startling comparison between the tyrannous hypocrisy of the Victorian patriarchal system and the evils of fascism. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HERMIONE LEETrade ReviewOne realises afresh the full meaning of originality, the magic of the mind which plays around concrete facts as though they were all spirit. And when it is finished it is with a renewed sense of zest and stimulus that one takes up life again and looks anew at objects which before were only ordinary. * Guardian *Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity -- Kate MosseAchingly relevant -- Natasha Walter * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA landmark, incendiary collection from one of the leading essayists working today. Inspiring everyone from radical activists to Beyoncé Knowles, Rebecca Solnit's essay 'Men Explain Things to Me' has become a touchstone of the feminist movement and established her as one of the leading thinkers of our time. Here it is collected along with the best of Solnit's feminist writings. From French sex scandals to the nuclear family, rape culture to mansplaining, Virginia Woolf to colonialism, these essays are a fierce and incisive exploration of the issues that a patriarchal culture will not necessarily acknowledge as 'issues' at all. With grace, wit and energy, and in the most exquisite and inviting of prose, Rebecca Solnit proves herself a vital leading figure of the feminist movement and a radical, humane thinker. 'Solnit is a compelling writer with a glorious turn of phrase' Evening StandardTrade ReviewWhat has always impressed me in Solnit's writing is the simple cadence and timbre of a sentence, a paragraph, the way a whole essay lilts and skips. She is not one of the most important female essayists of her generation. She is one of the most important essayists of her generation. Incendiary, indignant, and true -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *[A] trenchant collection of essays... an eloquent reminder that we still have some way to go when it comes to speaking of the issues Solnit raises -- Erica Wagner * Financial Times *Stark and powerful prose... Solnit is a compelling writer with a glorious turn of phrase -- Rosamund Urwin * Evening Standard *[These essays] are the thin edge of a continuum that reaches from the opening anecdote to the rape and murder statistics that she deploys to such devastating effect. Solnit's book does what the best feminist writing does: it makes me angry. And it makes me believe we can, and we must, fight for change -- Caroline Criado-Perez, feminist activistExceptional... The feminist debate has once again exploded into the mainstream over the last few years, and this collection marks Solnit out as among the most thoughtful of many energetic writers leading it -- Jessica Abrahams * Prospect *Essays on feminism from the consistently wonderful author of The Faraway Nearby. Anything she writes is a must-read * Bookseller *Solnit is a brilliant essayist... A highly enjoyable and thought-provoking read -- Patrick Neale * Bookseller *A necessary read... Solnit writes powerfully * Flavourwire *Essential reading for anyone - feminist or not, male or female - who wants to fight for equality across all fronts * Gazette, Western Mail, Swindon Advertiser and Leicester Mercury *The essays fiercely confront crime against women... Solnit has a voice of fearless and provocative asperity; she launches a quiverful of aphoristic arrows -- Stevie Davies * Independent *A revolt championing the cause of women... [Solnit's] work feels both timeless and timely. She argues persuasively, is often funny and is articulate to a fault... [her] writing is its own victory and revolt. An incendiary, inquiring and important work -- Sinead Gleeson * Irish Times *Essential reading for anyone - feminist or not, male or female * Irish Examiner *The most clarifying, soothing and socially aware document I've read on the topic this year. Not to mention funny -- Lena Dunham 'Book of the year' * Wall Street Journal *

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Book Synopsis** THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 5 BESTSELLER **** FEATURED ON BBC ARTS'' BETWEEN THE COVERS **Award-winning comedian Sara Pascoe turns her attention to the things that really matter to humans sex, power and money.''A genuinely hilarious explanation of the science of sex'' FRANKIE BOYLE''I've never read a book so fast and laughed so loudly while learning so much. Pascoe is a sage for our times.'' DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE, The Guilty Feminist Following her hit book Animal, Sara Pascoe decides to confront her fear of the male libido, and turns her attention to the things that really matter to humans, delving into such questions as:Why don't people care about the welfare of the people they masturbate to?andWhy is there such stigma around those who work in the sex industry?when Some women still want men to buy them dinner?In this com

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Financial Times Best Summer Book""A New Yorker Best Book We've Read This Year""Shortlisted for the History Book of the Year Prize, History Reclaimed""Winner of the History Reclaimed Book of the Year Prize""A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year""A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""The history of women in the Middle Ages is fraught with uncertainties, especially when it comes to source material and authorship; Turner unfurls this complexity in elegant, quietly angry prose, grounded in deep scholarly research. . . . Turner’s biography of Alison of Bath demonstrates the stunning resonance of medieval prejudice in the present."---Erin Maglaque, New York Times Book Review"Those who foreground alternative voices must reach for innovative forms and reworkings of genre. Turner does this brilliantly, allowing Alison of Bath to speak for the legions of contemporary women otherwise silenced by history."---Daisy Hay, Financial Times"Turner’s immensely entertaining ‘biography’ will make you fall in love with the Wife of Bath, whom she crowns ‘the first ordinary woman in English literature.’ . . . Wonderfully accessible and briskly entertaining."---Ron Charles, Washington Post"Turner writes from a feminist perspective, but she is not a presentist—the kind of person who faults the past for failing to live up to the standards, or some people’s standards, of the present. . . . You are grateful for Turner’s thoroughness. She is especially adept at drawing meaning not only from characters’ similarities but also from their differences."---Joan Acocella, The New Yorker"An intriguing combination of the fantastically bawdy and the deadly serious. . . . Thrilling."---Katy Guest, The Guardian"A wonderful biography."---Mary Wellesley, The Telegraph"This engrossing academic study helps you appreciate why, nearly eight centuries after Chaucer brought her to life, this funny, sexually confident middle-aged woman remains a titan of literature."---Martin Chilton, The Independent"Erudite."---Susie Goldsbrough, The Times"[A] thoroughly engaging book."---Mary C. Flannery, Times Literary Supplement"[A] superb biography. . . . Turner's beautifully written, rewarding and thought-provoking book about this imaginary woman shows how much her literary existence has to say about actual women’s lives."---Gillian Kenny, The Spectator"Turner’s scholarly yet lively portrait of [the Wife of Bath] reveals much about the real-life women who were the earliest readers of her tale, and about the cultures that have been captivated by her ever since."---Pippa Bailey, New Statesman"[A] fascinating book." * The Week *"[A] lively biography."---Eleanor Parker, History Today"This is a wonderfully witty, thoughtful and authoritative meditation on one of English literature’s most astonishing characters—a woman both ahead of her time and yet very much emblematic of the social changes under way in 14th-century England."---Carolyne Larrington, Literary Review"Turner’s enthralling take on Chaucer is so rich, inspiring and relevant."---Lucasta Miller, The Critic"[The Wife of Bath] finally gets the lively, full-length study she’s always deserved in Marion Turner’s new book. . . . It’s fun, thought-provoking popular scholarship at its best."---Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review"[A] passionate literary ‘biography’. . . . Turner’s prose is straightforward, artful, and occasionally biting. . . . Fans of Chaucer’s work and literature lovers more generally shouldn’t miss this." * Publishers Weekly *"A brilliant commentary on Chaucer’s ‘Alisoun’ and the posthumous relevance of Alison in our fractious world of gender politics."---Timothy Mowl, Country Life"Written in elegant, accessible prose, The Wife of Bath reinvents literary criticism to tell the extraordinary story of one of English literature’s most memorable, norm-busting characters." * Foreword Reviews *"[A] superb exploration of the most memorable character in The Canterbury Tales."---Matt d’Ancona, Tortoise"[Turner] writes in a companionable way that makes this a most engaging book."---Sean Sheehan, The Prisma"Masterful. . . . An invaluable study not only for those who research and teach Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales but also for those who are engaged with women and gender studies from the Middle Ages to the present day." * Choice Reviews *"An illuminating social history. . . .Combin[ing] rigorous scholarship and an eye for entertaining detail."---Emily Brand, BBC History Magazine"Lively, approachable, and exhaustively researched . . . [The Wife of Bath] has something to offer for both casual readers and scholars, particularly those working on gender, medieval studies, or adaptation studies, not to mention Chaucerians of all stripes. . . . An invaluable resource, not only for information on the Wife of Bath herself, but as a brilliant and well-considered example of the myriad possibilities available for approaching an old topic from a new angle."---Kristen Haas Curtis, Studies in the Age of Chaucer"An intellectually daring study."---Terry Potter, The Letterpress Project

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Book SynopsisIn a context marked by the virulent return of patriarchal and white supremacist attitudes, a new generation of feminist activists are continuing the struggle: these are very feminist times. But how do these and other movements relate to the contemporary posthuman condition? In this important new book, Rosi Braidotti examines the implications of the posthuman turn for feminist theory and practice. She defines the posthuman turn as a convergence between posthumanism on the one hand and post-anthropocentrism on the other, and she examines their complex relationship and joint impact. Braidotti claims that mainstream posthuman scholarship has neglected feminist theory, while in fact feminism is one of the precursors of the posthuman turn, through diverse social movements and political traditions. Posthuman Feminism is an analytic and creative response to contemporary conditions and a call to action. It highlights the constraints but also the potentialities available to feminist political subjects as they confront the ever-growing injustices of sexism, racism, ecocide and neoliberal capitalism. This bold new text by a leading feminist philosopher will be of great interest to students and scholars throughout the humanities and social sciences.Trade Review“This profound and energising book is uncannily insightful: read it as a talisman against the present and as a map out of its baleful conditions.”Matthew Fuller, Goldsmiths, University of London“Posthumanism Feminism is astonishingly wide-ranging and characteristically impressive in its contemporary relevance. Attending closely to submerged knowledge traditions including Indigenous and Black perspectives, Braidotti enriches our understanding of both posthumanism and feminism by showing how they are mutually generative and intimately imbricated. Everyone who engages with ideas emerging in these areas will need to know what this book has to say.”Simone Bignall, University of Technology SydneyTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Feminism by Any Other Name Part I Posthuman Feminism as Critique Chapter 1: Feminism is Not (Only) a Humanism Chapter 2: The Critical Edge of Posthuman Feminism Chapter 3: Decentring Anthropos: Ecofeminism Revisited Part II Posthuman Feminism as Creation Chapter 4: New Materialism and Carnal Empiricism Chapter 5: Technobodies: Gene- and Gender-editing Chapter 6: Sexuality Beyond Gender: a Thousand Little Sexes Chapter 7: Wanting Out! Epilogue: “Get a life!” Bibliography

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Book Synopsis'The world needs to know. Trailblazing. Life-enhancing. A Radical Awakening is one of those books you will want to keep on your nightstand.' Oprah Winfrey during 'Oprah's Your Life in Focus'Bestselling author and renowned clinical psychologist Dr Shefali teaches women how to transcend their fears, break free from societal expectations and rediscover the person they were always meant to be.A Radical Awakening lays out a path for women to heal their psychic wounds and prepares them to discover their own powers to help heal others and the planet. Dr Shefali helps women uncover the purpose that already exists within them and harness the power of authenticity in every area of their lives.This is an eloquent and inspiring, practical and accessible book, backed with real-life examples and personal stories, that unlocks the extraordinary power necessary to awaken the conscious self. Dr Shefali will empower and inspire all women to uncover the person they always wanted to be: fully present, conscious, and happy, by deconstructing the archetypes that still exist in society today, inspiring women to live authentically - and, importantly, elevate other women along the way.'The awakened woman breaks free from the clutches of fear and rises in her authentic power. These pages speak to this process and highlights how every woman can get there - step by step. Profoundly inspiring, this book will spark you to reach toward and step into your greatest freedom.' Alicia KeysTrade ReviewSimply brilliant! Step by step and chain by chain, Dr Shefali gives us a path to break free from our old patterns to arrive at a new destination: our truest, most authentic self. * Marie Forleo, New York Times bestselling author of Everything Is Figureoutable *The awakened woman breaks free from the clutches of fear and rises in her authentic power. These pages speak to this process and highlights how every woman can get there - step by step. Profoundly inspiring, this book will spark you to reach toward and step into your greatest freedom. * Alicia Keys *Dr Shefali's latest book is a powerful call for women to divest themselves of their patriarchy-imposed roles of automatic and compulsive caregivers at the cost of their physical health, emotional freedom, and spiritual awareness. * GABOR MATÉ, MD, international bestselling author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction *A Radical Awakening will be of great help to anyone who is ready to transcend the limitations of their personal as well as cultural conditioning and awaken to their true nature as the eternal presence of consciousness itself. * Eckhart Tolle, bestselling author of The Power of Now *The world needs to know. Trailblazing. Life-enhancing. A Radical Awakening is one of those books you will want to keep on your nightstand. * Oprah Winfrey during ‘Oprah’s Your Life in Focus’ *Simply brilliant! Step by step and chain by chain, Dr Shefali gives us a path to break free from our old patterns to arrive at a new destination: our truest, most authentic self. -- Marie Forleo, New York Times bestselling author of Everything Is FigureoutableThe awakened woman breaks free from the clutches of fear and rises in her authentic power. These pages speak to this process and highlights how every woman can get there - step by step. Profoundly inspiring, this book will spark you to reach toward and step into your greatest freedom. -- Alicia KeysDr Shefali's latest book is a powerful call for women to divest themselves of their patriarchy-imposed roles of automatic and compulsive caregivers at the cost of their physical health, emotional freedom, and spiritual awareness. -- GABOR MATÉ, MD, international bestselling author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with AddictionA Radical Awakening will be of great help to anyone who is ready to transcend the limitations of their personal as well as cultural conditioning and awaken to their true nature as the eternal presence of consciousness itself. -- Eckhart Tolle, bestselling author of The Power of NowThe world needs to know. Trailblazing. Life-enhancing. A Radical Awakening is one of those books you will want to keep on your nightstand. -- Oprah Winfrey during ‘Oprah’s Your Life in Focus’

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisFor readers of Madeleine Miller and Natalie Haynes comes the story of the most infamous monster of Greek mythology: Medusa.First, they loved her. Then, they abused her. Finally, they made her a villain.Gifted and burdened with stunning beauty, young Medusa seeks sanctuary with the Goddess Athena. But when she catches the eye of the lecherous but mighty Poseidon, she is beyond protection. Powerful men rarely answer for their actions, after all.Meanwhile, Perseus embarks on a seemingly impossible quest, equipped with only bravado and determination...Medusa and Perseus soon become pawns of spiteful and selfish gods. Faced with the repercussions of Athena's wrath, blamed for her assault, Medusa has no choice but to flee and hide. But can she do so without becoming the monster they say she is?Medusa's truth has long been lost. History tells of conquering heroes, of men with hearts of gold. Now it is time to hear the story of how history treats women who don't comply.

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Book SynopsisNERO BOOK AWARDS WINNER 2023WINNER, NON FICTION BOOK 2023, BOOKS ARE MY BAG AWARDSSHORTLIST, BOOKSHOP.ORG INDIE CHAMPIONSSHORTLIST, AMAZON NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLIST, GOODREADS CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEARAudible Books of the Year 2023The Times Books of the Year 2023Apple Best Audiobooks of 2023BOOKSHOP.ORG Book of the Month January 2024THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'I tore through this hilarious, smart, sad, revealing book' - Bob Odenkirk'Funny, sharp and has incredible clarity' - Jon Ronson'An absolute riot. I'm literally going to read it again once I've finished, and I'm a miserable bastard...it's a belter' - FRANKIE BOYLE'Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge.' - Rachael Healy, The GuardianA summary of my book:1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.2. My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.4. Homelessness.5. Stripping.6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.8. REDACTED as too spicy.9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.'Fern's book, like everything she does, is awesome. Incredibly funny, and so unapologetically frank that I feel genuinely sorry for her lawyers.' - PHIL WANG'Of course it's funny - it's Fern Brady - but this book is also deeply moving and eye-opening'- ADAM KAY'It made me laugh out loud and broke my heart and made me weep...I hope absolutely everyone reads this, and it makes them kinder and more curious about the way we all live' - DAISY BUCHANAN'Glorious. Frank but nuanced, a memoir that doesn't sacrifice voice or self-awareness. And it has brilliant things to say about being autistic and being funny' - ELLE MCNICOLL'A set text for all of us in 2023' - DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE'Fern is a brilliant, beautiful writer with a unique voice and even more unique story. Astute, honest and very, very funny.' - LOU SANDERS'So funny and brilliant' - HOLLY SMALE'Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, Strong Female Character is a necessary corrective. Brady offers a compelling, messy, highly resonant portrait of what masked Autism feels like.' - Devon Price, author of Unmasking AutismTrade ReviewOf course it's funny - it's Fern Brady - but this book is also deeply moving and eye-opening -- ADAM KAYIt made me laugh out loud and broke my heart and made me weep...I hope absolutely everyone reads this, and it makes them kinder and more curious about the way we all live -- DAISY BUCHANANGlorious. Frank but nuanced, a memoir that doesn't sacrifice voice or self-awareness. And it has brilliant things to say about being autistic and being funny -- ELLE MCNICOLLFern is a brilliant, beautiful writer with a unique voice and even more unique story. Astute, honest and very, very funny. -- LOU SANDERSSo funny and brilliant -- HOLLY SMALEAn absolute riot. I'm literally going to read it again once I've finished, and I'm a miserable bastard...it's a belter -- FRANKIE BOYLEFern Brady's book is alive in your hands. Brave doesn't cover it and I'm not sure what will. Fizzing with intelligence, it will hit you in the heart, lungs and liver. You'll laugh, cry, be still and if you're not autistic - by god you'll learn. If you are autistic you'll be seen, heard, held, rocked and loved here. A set text for all of us in 2023 * DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE *Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge. Fern Brady is a natural and engaging writer, weaving bleak episodes with moments of pure comedy as she re-appraises crucial moments in her life through the lens of her autism diagnosis. Brutal honesty and a talent for storytelling combine to make an insightful memoir that's not only very funny, but will no doubt provide invaluable moments of recognition for many readers. * RACHAEL HEALY, The Guardian *Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, Strong Female Character is a necessary corrective. Brady offers a compelling, messy, highly resonant portrait of what masked Autism feels like * Devon Price, author of Unmasking Autism *This Bathgate girl has more jaw-dropping tales to share than your average comedian-cum-author could hope to harvest in a lifetime. Perhaps more of us ought to grapple with our own mortality if it births something so bold as Strong Female Character. * The List *Strong Female Character will reassure fellow autistic folk that they are not alone * Chortle *Shocking and incredibly moving - and it will make you laugh at subjects that you didn't think you possibly could * Scotland on Sunday *A brutal, funny and heartbreaking memoir. The pace is brisk and her deadpan humour makes the darkest material hilariously funny. -- Marianne Power * The Times *Brilliant! -- Sarah Atkinson, CEO Social Mobility Foundation * HR Magazine *This very personal account of bullying, stripping, homelessness and stand-up is shocking and incredibly moving - and will make you laugh at subjects that you didn't realise could be funny. -- Kirsty McLuckie * i Paper *[Brady] brings unsparing wit to a memoir that calls out the bulls--t in every culture she's experienced. -- Helen Brown * The Telegraph *Strong Female Character is a clear-eyed, deeply sane account of an at times tumultuous life; a life shaped by class and gender, but mostly, it's now clear to her, by her autism. * The Herald *

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Book SynopsisGet ready to start taking charge of your own success.Whether it is through our parents, our education, our bosses, our colleagues, or the media we consume, we are constantly told that being humble is essential to our professional success. It's often seen as distasteful or arrogant to shout about our achievements. But in a modern workplace, where the conventional, steady, linear career path is becoming rarer and rarer, this advice seems ever-more obsolete. In the age of flexible working and portfolio careers, it's time to f*ck being humble.With simple exercises, steps and real-life examples, this is a resource for your bedside table that you can come back to again and again, at any point in your career. Learn how to: Know what you stand for Stop hiding (even when you don’t realise you are) Fully realise the power of networking Know your self-worth Play the money game and win Manage your emotions at work Take action and establish the right time to make the leap Keep the momentum you’ve generated going and maintain that elusive work-life balance Trade ReviewThis book is a toolkit to help you overcome your fears, with exercises on how to build self-worth, and how to play the money game - and win! * Cosmopolitan *

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Book Synopsis''Once they are aroused, once they are determined, nothing on earth and nothing in heaven will make women give way; it is impossible.''A potted history of the women who pioneered feminism and changed the world.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics'' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Bethany Webster is a true cheerleader for women embarking on the long, harrowing journey of birthing their authentic self. A helpful guide for recovering Good Girls laboring to do the heroic work of healing the Mother Wound.” — Jasmin Lee Cori, MS, LPC, author of The Emotionally Absent Mother “With soulfulness and grace, Bethany Webster encourages women to break the intergenerational ties that bind daughters to patriarchal mothers who could not and did not mother them positively, and who may feel betrayed or become enraged as their daughter dares to become her own self.” — Phyllis Chesler, author of Women and Madness and A Politically Incorrect Feminist “Webster has created a comprehensive mapping of the toxic mother-daughter dynamic, its shaping of the daughter’s ‘script,’ and how the daughter may rescue her journey and outgrow the limitations of her childhood experience by accessing her own ‘Inner Mother.’ This book is most insightful and urgently needed.” — James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, and author of Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times "This book is essential for mothers who struggle to understand their own pain and for daughters who need to finally break free of the projections of their own wounded mothers. Bethany’s work has helped my own inner child to feel more deeply understood." — Lisa A. Romano, codependency recovery life coach "This has to be one of the most impactful, sincere, and enlightening books I have ever read." — Leslie Arreola-Hillenbrand, founder, Latinx Parenting "Disentangling ourselves from the traumas of patriarchy can paradoxically involve separating from mothers who bequeathed to us toxic resentments, frustrations and limitations, and dysfunctional survival mechanisms. Bethany Webster explores with nuance and sensitivity how we can free ourselves to become who we really are." — Perdita Finn, co-author (with Clark Strand) of The Way of the Rose “Discovering the Inner Mother is a powerful contribution to women’s leadership at a crucial historic moment.” — Ophira Edut, CEO and founder, Astrostyle, and author of Body Outlaws “Discovering the Inner Mother is smart, thoughtful and serves not only as a map on how to unpack and disrupt cycles of dysfunction, but it gives daughters a way to reframe the disappointments we’ve watched our mothers haul around on their backs for years and in turn, the gift of true compassion for us all. I loved Bethany Webster’s book.” — Chely Wright, songwriter, musician, and author of Like Me “Webster candidly shares her own transformative journey and offers questions for reflection and exercises to allow readers to better come to terms with their past… Those with estranged or difficult relationships with their mothers will find affirmation. ” — Library Journal

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Book Synopsis''Funny, kind, generous and smart - I could have done with the wisdom of Flo Perry far sooner'' Dolly AldertonWhen it comes to our sex lives, few of us are free of niggling fears and body image insecurities. Rather than enjoying and exploring our bodies uninhibited, we worry about our bikini lines, bulging tummies and whether we''re doing it ''right''.Flo broaches everything from faking it to consent, stress to kink, and how losing your virginity isn''t so different to eating your first chocolate croissant. Her mission is to get more people talking openly about what they do and don''t want from every romantic encounter.Trade ReviewPerry is on the charge to show feminism for the sexy movement it is, and offers it in a hilarious, accessible and completely non-judgemental package. * The Evening Standard *cheeky, sweet and extremely witty...figures of all shapes and sizes and ages and races (clothed and unclothed) contort and grin and dart across the pages, bringing to vivid life Perry's wisdom about as broad sexual quandaries as libido, trust, faking orgasms, consent, body image, pubic hair, nude photos, porn, ghosting, and virginity....an emotionally intelligent discussion about the climate in which women - but not just women - are navigating relationships * The i *Thank God for Flo Perry * The Times *

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Trade ReviewHilde Lindemann has updated her classic, readable text with timely new sections on currently pressing topics and concepts such as intersectionality, sexual harassment, and microaggressions. Lindemann continues to be one of the most engaging voices in feminist philosophy. This new edition is an ideal text for today's students of feminist philosophy, as well as an important contribution to the field in its own right. * Rebecca Kukla, Georgetown University *Outstanding! With characteristic clarity and insight Lindemann provides a valuable introduction to feminist ethics which is both rigorous and highly accessible. * Marya Schechtman, University of Chicago at Illinois *

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING MEMOIR ''Incredibly moving and haunting'' Roxane Gay''I read this book cover to cover and it stunned me'' Jia Tolentino ''Powerful, honest and necessary'' Marian Keyes''To girls everywhere, I am with you. On nights when you feel alone, I am with you. When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought every day for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you.''Chanel Miller''s story changed our world forever. In 2016 Brock Turner was sentenced to just six months in jail after he was caught sexually assaulting her on Stanford''s campus. His light sentencing, and Chanel''s victim impact statement, which was read by eleven million people in four days, sparked international outrage and action.Know My Name is an intimate, profoundly moving memoir that exposes a patriarchal culture biased to protect perpetrators, a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and ultimately shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life. Entwining pain, resilience, and humour, this breath-taking memoir will stand as a modern classic.''I could not put this phenomenal book down'' Glennon Doyle, bestselling author of UNTAMED''To read Know My Name inspires hope'' Guardian''A searing, beautiful book'' Sunday Times ''Know My Name marks the debut of a gifted young writer. Miller''s words are purpose. They are maps. And she is a treasure who has prevailed'' New York TimesTrade ReviewPowerful, honest and necessary -- Marian KeyesA beautifully written, powerful, important story. It marks the debut of a gifted young writer. * New York Times *Extraordinary woman turning pain into power. Chanel Miller, it's a privilege to know your name, and to celebrate it -- Thandie NewtonYou are a brave soul. You are more than the identity given to you by the media and those in power -- Monica LewinskyA searing, beautiful book * Sunday Times *In a world that asks too many survivors to keep their experiences to themselves and shrink their suffering to preserve someone else's potential, Know My Name stands unapologetically large, asking others to reckon with its author's dazzling, undiminishable presence. To read it, in spite of everything, inspires hope. * Guardian *I can't wait to read it -- Dolly AldertonIn its rare honesty and its small details, KNOW MY NAME is both an open wound and a salve, a quiet cry and the loudest scream...[it] is more than an indictment, though it is a successful and moving one. It is also an outstretched hand, inviting you to fight alongside her * Elle *A skilled writer... Miller tells [her story] beautifully, caring enough for her reader to spin golden sentences from her pain * Vogue *I read this book cover to cover and it stunned me: Chanel Miller is such a lushly talented writer -- Jia Tolentino, bestselling author of Trick Mirror

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Book SynopsisFeel empowered with your finances and discover the route to economic equality in this astonishing dissection of the gender wealth gap''Uncovers the realities of money in the modern world'' Stylist''This book will open your eyes'' 5***** Reader Review''Goes beyond talks of glass ceilings and gender pay gaps'' Dazed''Shocking and brilliant'' 5***** Reader Review________Did you know?Nearly 70% of Britain''s homeless are women.There are more men called Dave running the UK''s top 100 companies than there are women altogether.Women outperform men educationally at every level from high school to PhD - but still get paid less.In this astonishing dissection of the gender wealth gap, financial journalist Annabelle Williams explains why so few women rank among the super-rich and why women are the majority of those in poverty.From the personal - feeling <Trade ReviewAnnabelle Williams uncovers the realities of money in the modern world, and what exactly we can do about the fact that women are poorer than men * Stylist *Williams' book goes beyond talks of glass ceilings and gender pay gaps to a more nuanced look at the institutional oppression faced by women on a daily basis * Dazed *It is refreshing to see Williams challenge well-worn sexist myths . . . These debates are now greatly enriched thanks to Williams' contribution, democratic style and energetic lightness of touch * i *Tells us how to fight to be a financial feminist * Daily Mail *Essential reading for all serious feminists and 'femanists' and an important reminder that a lack of female leadership and representation at the top leads to an economic gender equality that affects all women, whatever their income level or role in society * Gill Whitty-Collins, author of Why Men Win At Work *Williams is passionate in her mission to educate women about finance... the great strength of this book comes from her generosity of spirit and desire to share her considerable financial expertise, providing a practical, democratic, user-friendly guide to the world of finance * i *Annabelle Williams demolishes the idea that women are just worse at negotiating pay, or choose low-wage industries * The Times *Sets out to get to the bottom of why the modern world is rigged unfairly in men's favour. * Stylist *

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Book SynopsisBOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORKER AND KIRKUS ''Devorah Baum is a visionary writer. Her intellectual depth, her emotional precision and her searing insight can only be gathered under an old fashioned word: wisdom'' Zadie SmithA shining exploration of why we marry from writer and academic Devorah BaumFor better or worse, for richer for poorer, till death us do part we've always done it and we're still doing it. Of all our cultural institutions, marriage is the most ancient, but also the most puzzling.In this compelling and delightful book, Devorah Baum examines the many meanings we have given to marriage, interweaving the personal with insights from a host of writers, artists and thinkers.From Freud to Ferrante, and One Thousand and One Nights to Fleabag, she looks at marriage in all of its forms from act of love to leap of faith, and asks: what are we really doing when we say I do'?Both celebration and critique, On Marriage is a guide like no other to the landscape of marriage.''A hugely thought-provoking, witty, warm tour around every significant writer and thinker on love to have emerged since Adam and Eve'' Alain de BottonTrade ReviewBaum is an erudite and entertaining guide through the landscape of marriage . . . from Kant to Fleabag via George Eliot and Nora Ephron . . . [On Marriage is] a fascinating exploration of an institution that, for better or worse, "continues to shape and carry our human story" -- Stephanie Merritt * Guardian *On the subject of conversation and its role in marriage Baum is . . . at her most resonant. . . . This is smart and right. . . . There is more in marriage than may be dreamt of in our philosophies * Wall Street Journal *Baum is a master at unpicking cliches. She pushes at the boundaries of marriage as a framework for conceiving of ourselves in relation to others . . . Her nimble new work selects and analyses artistic renderings of marriage across philosophy, television, and literature – including work by the novelist Taffy Brodesser-Akner, the theorist Slavoj Žižek, and the screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bride * The New Yorker, 'The Best Books We Read This Week’ *Rarely has the subject of marriage been attended to with such intelligence, breadth of reading and insight, but also with such scrutiny and hope -- Hisham MatarA comprehensively researched, wry examination of the many dimensions of marriage and how it has evolved * Kirkus *Exploring her own marriage has given Baum a unique vantage point from which to investigate the private intricacies of other people's arrangements . . . Her ability to sit in the midst of those arguments and unpick their various strands makes her work compelling, as does her willingness to self-interrogate * Times *This delightful, acrobatic book is funny, thought-provoking and rigorous at the same time. An effervescent and timely meditation on marriage * Darian Leader *Devorah Baum brings her literary understandings, psychoanalytic scholarship and great aplomb to the marriage conundrum. It's very funny too. Who wouldn't want to marry Devorah? -- Susie OrbachOn Marriage is characterized by this kind of agile curiosity . . . Baum holds [marriage] up as a seduction -- Rebecca Mead * The New Yorker *Because marriage doesn't always bring out the best in us, it makes us wonder what the best in us might be. It is part of the extraordinary wit and wisdom of Baum's remarkable book to show us what kind of romance, and experiment in living, we have wanted marriage to be -- Adam PhillipsEverything you thought you knew about conjugal beds, secrets, feuds, confessions, triangulations and solaces will be pleasurably complicated by Devorah Baum's wryly insightful tell - all regarding the infinite perversity of marriage - including her own, mine, and probably yours -- Laura KipnisOn Marriage is a hugely thought-provoking, witty, warm tour around every significant writer and thinker on love to have emerged since Adam and Eve. Baum is a charming guide to the wisdom of her inspiring judiciously curated cohort * Alain de Botton *Baum looks at marriage from multiple angles, legal and political, social and narrative, its interminability and its dailiness . . . it can be funny or tragic or both. Baum’s methodology is to look at what is missing – a philosophy of marriage, a clear idea of what this dominant structure is and how it influences lives. Lovely * The White Review *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO PRIZE 2023''A book that could not be more necessary'' Observer''Eloquent, clever and devastating'' The Times''Deftly illustrates how ageist misogyny remains an acceptable prejudice'' GuardianWhat is about women in middle-age and beyond that seems to enrage - almost everyone?In the last few years, as identity politics has taken hold, middle-aged women have found themselves talked and written about as morally inferior beings, the face of bigotry, entitlement and selfishness, to be ignored, pitied or abused.Hags asks the question why these women are treated with such active disdain. Each chapter takes a different theme - care work, beauty, violence, political organization, sex - and explores it in relation to middle-aged women''s beliefs, bodies and choices. Victoria Smith traces the attitudes she describes back to the same anxieties about older women that drove Early Modern witch hunts, and explores the very specific reasons why this type of misogyny is so powerful today. The demonisation of hags has never felt more now.Victoria Smith has decided in this book that she will be the Karen so nobody else has to be, and she ends on a positive note, exploring potential solutions which can benefit all women, hags and hags-in-waiting.Shortlisted for the Nero Book Awards announced 21 November 2023. Trade ReviewHer book traces the hatred and fear of the middle-aged woman back through history . . . The greatest joy of Hags is its lively erudition . . . This eloquent, clever and devastating book describes the last remaining acceptable prejudice, one that is now even posited as progress: the loathing of older women -- Janice Turner * The Times *My polemic of the year . . . a book that could not be more necessary (a sword and a shield) in the current climate -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *Riveting, vital and impossible to read without rage -- Lissa Evans, author of Old BaggageHags is rich and complex and witty and cleverer than I am. (You'd never get a male reviewer saying that.) I hope it won't be read only in an echo chamber, by the women who are, as Smith was once called to her delight, 'a batshit Mumsnet thread made flesh'. I hope it will also be read by young women who think me and the author terrible Terfs and bigots for believing in single-sex spaces; by young anyones; by the middle-aged and the elderly; by any man born of a mother; and by all those who agree with Smith when she writes: 'I am not frightened of change. I am frightened of things staying the same.' -- Rose George * Spectator *Devastating and clever -- Bel Mooney * Daily Mail *Smith makes an impassioned, powerful case . . . Hags can't come soon enough' * Mail on Sunday *Deftly illustrates how ageist misogyny remains an acceptable prejudice and, in laying out the ignominies visited upon middle-aged women, feels justifiably livid -- Fiona Sturges * Guardian *A brilliantly witty, engaging and insightful book; a righteous polemic which examines and questions why so much hatred is directed towards middle-aged women - and, crucially, what this means for women today . . . a punchy, thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable read -- Eleanor Fleming * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisA fully updated 40th anniversary edition of the pioneering handbook for female assertiveness an indispensable guide to getting what you wantTrade Review'The classic assertiveness bible... You might be better off with A Woman in Your Own Right than any of the modern girlboss manuals that claim to be able to transform you wholesale into a kickass corporate woman' Rhiannon Lucy Cosslet, Guardian'We’ve made giant strides towards equality over the decades, but... this advice is even more pertinent today' Linda Kelsey, Daily Mail'As important as it ever was’ Angela Neustatter'The bible for anyone who wants to get their voice heard… invaluable' Lesley Garner

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Book Synopsis*A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A GUARDIAN MEMOIR OF THE YEAR A TELEGRAPH BEST MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR *'Chronicles, in enthralling detail, Madonna Louise Ciccone's path from terrifyingly ambitious trainee dancer to pop colossus, all the while placing her in a wider social and cultural context.' GUARDIAN MAGAZINE'Gabriel charts her extraordinary life, right through to pop icon. She deserves a biographer as meticulous, intelligent and insightful as Gabriel.' DAILY MAIL'Madonna built the house in which nearly all female artists now live . . . A Rebel Life brings home not just her obvious willpower and strength, but her fearlessness and sheer intelligence' DAILY TELEGRAPH'A fascinating take on one of music's greatest icons' BELFAST TELEGRAPH'It's a mark of Gabriel's skill that she has managed to wrestle this complex, sprawling, eventful life into a book that rarely flags and conveys its subject's wider significance without tipping into hagiography. We come to understand Madonna the person as well as Madonna the concept: a woman who, for a generation, embodied female artistic, sexual and financial liberation.' GUARDIANIn this exceptional biography, Pulitzer Prize finalist Mary Gabriel chronicles the meteoric rise and enduring influence of the greatest female pop icon of the modern era: Madonna.With her arrival on the music scene in the early 1980s, Madonna generated nothing short of an explosion - as great as that of Elvis or the Beatles - taking the nation by storm with her liberated politics and breathtaking talent. But Madonna was more than just a pop star. Everywhere, fans gravitated to her as an emblem of a new age, one in which feminism could shed the buttoned-down demeanour of the 1970s and feel relevant to a new generation. Amid the scourge of AIDS, she brought queer identities into the mainstream, fiercely defending a person's right to love whomever - and be whoever - they wanted. Despite fierce criticism, she never separated her music from her political activism. And as an artist, she never stopped experimenting. Madonna existed to push past boundaries by creating provocative, visionary music, videos, films and live performances that changed culture globally. Deftly tracing Madonna's story from her Michigan roots to her rise to super-stardom, master biographer Mary Gabriel captures the dramatic life and achievements of one of the greatest artists of our time.Trade ReviewMary Gabriel has dared to write a biography of a woman with whom the entire world is on a first-name basis. Here, she reveals Madonna as a rock-and-roll suffragette, managing the stress test of her personal life and using the power of music to bring about social change. Exquisitely detailed in her storytelling, Gabriel convinces us that we all still vogue in the House of Madonna -- Brad Gooch, author of CITY POET: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF FRANK O'HARAMary Gabriel's astonishing book with its pointillist detail feels fresh, surprising, vital, and necessary. It's thrilling to be reminded of how brave Madonna has been-to a fault! It doesn't matter where it springs from, because the results are the same: a singular, towering career that changed the culture -- Jonathan Van Meter, author of THE LAST GOOD TIMEMary Gabriel eloquently tells the engrossing story of how Madonna combined music, dance, art, fashion, theater and pop stardom to develop a completely contemporary way to be an artist. It chronicles how her embrace of the artistic vanguard transformed popular culture -- Jeffrey Deitch, author of ART IN THE STREETSMadonna built the house in which nearly all female artists now live . . . A Rebel Life brings home not just her obvious willpower and strength, but her fearlessness and sheer intelligence -- Suzanne Moore * Daily Telegraph *This meticulous study puts the shape-shifting star in proper context . . . It's a mark of Gabriel's skill that she has managed to wrestle this complex, sprawling, eventful life into a book that rarely flags and conveys its subject's wider significance without tipping into hagiography * Guardian, *Book of the Day* *

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Book SynopsisTwo sisters parted. Two women blamed. Two stories reclaimed.'Required reading for fans of Circe . . . a remarkable, thrilling debut' - Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth AvenueFor millennia, two women have been blamed for the fall of a mighty civilisation - but now it's time to hear their side of the story . . .As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivalled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece.Such privilege comes at a high price, though, and their destinies are not theirs to command. While still only girls they are separated and married off to legendary foreign kings Agamemnon and Menelaos, never to meet again. Their duty is now to give birth to the heirs society demands and be the meek, submissive queens their men expect.But when the weight of their husbands' neglect, cruelty and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, they must push against the constraints of their sex to carve new lives for themselves - and in doing so make waves that will ripple throughout the next three thousand years.Perfect for readers of Circe and Ariadne, Daughters of Sparta is a vivid and illuminating retelling of the Siege of Troy that tells the story of mythology's most vilified women from their own mouths at long last.Helen of Troy and her sister Klytemnestra are reimagined in this gorgeous retelling of the classic Greek myth - not as women defined by their husbands and lovers but as battle-weary survivors of a patriarchal society who take control of their own destiny. Absolutely riveting!' - Alka Joshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Henna ArtistTrade ReviewThe story of the Trojan War has been told for close to three millennia and writers are still finding ways to refashion it . . . Seen through the eyes of Klytemnestra and her sister Helen, the war proves very different from the Homeric conflict with which we are familiar . . . [Heywood] tells her story vividly, setting it convincingly in the period. * Sunday Times *Fluent and persuasive. I admire the ambition with which Heywood tackles the subject, to which she brings freshness and verve. I enjoyed it very much -- Elizabeth BuchanDaughters of Sparta has such a compelling narrative; it is utterly absorbing from beginning to end. I found it both captivating and poignant; an enthralling and powerful tale of family politics, gender constraints, love, betrayal and revenge, with a masterful handling of feelings and emotions that truly resonates down the ages. -- Laura CarlinHelen of Troy and her sister Klytemnestra are reimagined in this gorgeous retelling of the classic Greek myth - not as women defined by their husbands and lovers but as battle-weary survivors of a patriarchal society who take control of their own destiny. Absolutely riveting! * Alka Joshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist *'Heywood's wondrous retelling of the lives of two ancient princesses struggling for independence and agency in a patriarchal society resonates deeply in today's imperfect world. Required reading for fans of Circe, and a remarkable, thrilling debut.' * Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue *Brilliantly compelling . . . the perfect balance between historical authenticity and characters who I really connected with -- Sarah BonnerAn immersive, intimate take on a well-known tale. By focussing on the diverging fates of two sisters, Heywood reveals the private lives of these women to be just as compelling as the epic events unfolding around them. -- Amanda BlockIf you love epic books about Greek mythology and the often misunderstood or misinterpreted women within these tales, Daughters of Sparta should be right at the top of your reading list. It's a vividly written and compelling retelling that brings the Spartan princesses to life with all the human fortitude and foibles you'd expect from flesh and blood people. I'm already impatiently awaiting the reveal of the next set of female perspectives from the ancient world that Claire Heywood will be writing about in her second novel. * CultureFly *

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'Tightly plotted and hugely readable' Jane Rogers, author of PROMISED LANDS'Marvellous . . . fans of immersive historical fiction, the 18th century, all things French and a dash of peril, this one's for you' Emily Brand, author of THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF BYRON'Glasfurd deftly, elegantly captures this volatile world of impoverished attic rooms and gilded literary salons' DAILY MAILThe King knows the true power and privilege of books. When every book is cause for suspicion, you risk execution for possessing the wrong ones.1766, PARIS. Ten years have passed since Delphine Vimond last saw her father. After his violent arrest, his library of books is burned. Young Delphine, bereft and fatherless, is forced to seek refuge in the city.Now working as a housekeeper for the radical Monsieur Diderot, her settled life is suddenly disrupted by the arrival of Chancery Smith. A printer's apprentice, he has been sent from London to hunt down the mysterious author of revolutionary papers marked only with the initial D - the possession of which could prove fatal.Pursued by the brutal French censor, Henri Gilbert, Delphine and Chancery set off on a frantic and deadly search that will take them across the country.But can they catch up with D before Gilbert catches up with them? 'Among historical novelists, Glasfurd rides high' FINANCIAL TIMES

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Book SynopsisDo you think that Jesus only surrounded himself with men? Think again. Inspired by their popular Channel 4 documentary Jesus' Female Disciples, historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor explore the way in which Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha and a whole host of other women - named and unnamed - have been remembered by posterity, noting how many were silenced, tamed or slurred by innuendo - though occasionally they get to slay dragons. Women Remembered looks at the representation of these women in art, and the way they have been remembered in inscriptions and archaeology. And of course they dig into the biblical texts, exposing misogyny and offering alternative and unexpected ways of appreciating these women as disciples, apostles, teachers, messengers and church-founders. At a time when both the church and society more widely are still grappling with the full inclusion and equality of women, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical and cultural origins of Christianity.Trade ReviewDrawing on fifty years of feminist scholarship, they now expand the story to include most of the women mentioned in Christian scripture. Importantly, they show that the movement that came to be called Christianity was fluid and unstable for its first three centuries, attracting a diversity of women whose leadership was excluded as roles became formalized. * Times Literary Supplement *Having excavated biblical texts, they expose deep-rooted misogyny and offer alternative accounts of women as apostles, teachers, messengers, and church founders. * Irish Examiner *The authors piece together the evidence that has survived about the named and unnamed women. They demonstrate the richness and range of female activity in the first-century churches... readable and engaging, opening up the complex and fluid state of women in the Early Church * The Church Times *This book nowhere seems to step beyond the limits of what can be demonstrated by actual history and real evidence, some of it of very recent discovery by scholars around the world, and much of it quite unknown to many of us in the pews... a book which can be read with the hope of learning what is really thought today by the vanguard of scholarship...They show what women were said to have done or must have done, and what an equal role they played in the early days of the new faith. Of course we know that in our heart of hearts, for we can see in our churches every week from the role of parish administrator down to altar girls ...This is a continually interesting book, full of (to me) new information.' * Irish Catholic *Another argument made to good effect by the likeable authors, in this accessible and pleasurable addition to the largely impenetrable academic literature on the subject, is that the gospels as they appear in our Bibles were subject to heavy tweaking and editing over the century or two after they were written until a definitive version was agreed * The Daily Telegraph *there is plenty of evidence that women were not only involved in Jesus' movement, but were integral to it. * All About History Magazine *It's empowering, inspiring and important to learn about the key roles women played in early Christianity, which sadly almost disappeared from historical records, as men took control of the church. * Cat Lewis, Executive Producer, Songs of Praise *This book nowhere seems to step beyond the limits of what can be demonstrated by actual history and real evidence.. a book which can be read with the hope of learning what is really thought today by the vanguard of scholarship... a continually interesting book. * The Irish Catholic *As Joan Taylor and Helen Bond explore in their new book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples, there is plenty of evidence that women were not only involved in Jesus' movement, but were integral to it. * All About History *The authors piece together the evidence that has survived about the named and unnamed women. The demonstrate the richness and range of female activity in the first-century churches... readable and engaging, opening up the complex and fluid state of women in the Early Church. * The Church Times *Having excavated biblical texts, they expose deep-rooted misogyny and offer alternative accounts of women as apostles, teachers, messengers, and church founders. * The Irish Examiner *

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Book Synopsis'Brings cooling clarity to the heat of today's culture wars' Priyamvada Gopal, author of Insurgent Empire'Allows us to not only interrogate our own views, but to persuade others using reason and optimism. A must read' Aaron Bastani, author of Fully Automated Luxury CommunismCan white people be victims of racism?Is it sexist to say 'men are trash'?Should we worry about 'cancel culture'?Tired of having the same old arguments? Kicking yourself for not being able to justify your views? Wondering whether individuals can bring about meaningful change?Now imagine that instead of losing another hour of your life in a social media spat or knowing that the only way to make it through lunch was by biting your tongue, you could find a way to talk about injustice - and, just possibly, change someone's mind.Many of us know what we think about inequality, but flounder when asked for our reasoning, leading to a conversational stalemate - especially when faced with a political, generational, or cultural divide. But living in echo chambers blunts our thinking, and if we can't persuade others, we have little hope of collectively bringing about change.In Arguing for a Better World, philosopher Arianne Shahvisi draws on examples from everyday life to show us how to work through a set of thorny moral questions, equipping us to not only identify our positions but to carefully defend them.'Logical, readable, authoritative . . . An everyday manual on how oppression came about, how it works, why it persists, and how to defeat it' Danny Dorling, author of Injustice: Why Social Inequality Still Persists and A Better PoliticsTrade ReviewOften entertaining and funny; always concise, exacting, logical, readable, authoritative and un-put-downable. An everyday manual on how oppression came about, how it works, why it persists, and how to defeat it -- Danny Dorling, author of Injustice: Why Social Inequality Still Persists and A Better PoliticsWe live in an age of information overload, and unfortunately, 'information' is often misinformation. We often don't know how to think about social problems, let alone what to think. Arianne Shahvisi's book cuts through the noise with an eminently sensible discussion of key contemporary 'culture war' issues. It shows us how philosophy, far from being irrelevant, is essential for navigating today's world of client journalism-manufactured, social media-manipulated outrage. It also provides much-needed reassurance that in the struggle to create a better world, being able to 'show our workings' is much more important than always being right -- ALISON PHIPPS, author of Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream FeminismThis brilliant and very enjoyable book brings cooling clarity and patient empathy to the noise and heat of today's so-called 'Culture Wars'. This is insightful explication at its best, essential reading for anyone engaged with many of today's most pressing public arguments -- Priyamvada Gopal, Author of INSURGENT EMPIREGives progressives everything they need to defend their views in an increasingly polarized public sphere . . . Arguing for a Better World belongs on nightstands and in book clubs everywhere -- Carol Hay, author of Think Like a Feminist: The Philosophy Behind the RevolutionAllows us to not only interrogate our own views, but to persuade others using reason and optimism. A must read -- Aaron Bastani, author of Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A ManifestoShahvisi is a bold and necessary new literary voice whose work has the power to transform our world for the better -- Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, author The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams DeferredRefreshing . . . Arguing for a Better World challenges us to go beyond popular or popularising opinions and instead to learn to argue and defend well-reasoned positions * Sunday Business Post *

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Book SynopsisA decal is a copy, a transfer of forms and knowledge, something that sticks and leaves a mark. Lessons of Decal meditates on these transfers, on writing and making art, and on the many voices and art works that teach us how to read and think and be. Using personal reflections, close readings, and poetic interventions, Lessons of Decal gathers a series of passionate and playful essays that treat Form as their side-kick, experimenting with the confusing, unpredictable and pleasurable side of language along the way. Together, they make an impassioned call for nuance, curiosity, messiness, attentiveness, and pleasure. Lessons of Decal is a defence of complexity and confusion, across art and life. For Fans Of: Maggie Nelson, Lisa Robertson, Nuar Alsadir

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Book Synopsis 'This rallying cry will persuade you to battle for true equality' Stylist An incendiary debut taking the world by storm, Fight Like A Girl is an essential manifesto for feminists new, old and soon-to-be. Online sensation and fearless feminist heroine, Clementine Ford is a beacon of hope and inspiration to thousands of women and girls. In the wake of Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo campaign, Ford uses a mixture of memoir, opinion and investigative journalism to expose just how unequal the world continues to be for women. Personal, inspiring and courageous, Fight Like A Girl is an essential manifesto for feminists new, old and soon-to-be. The book is a call-to-arms for women to rediscover the fury that has been suppressed by a society that, despite best efforts, still considers feminism to be a threat. Urgently needed, Fight Like a Girl is a passionate, rallying cry that will awaken readers to the fact they are not alone and there’s a brighter future where men and women can flourish equally – and that’s something worth fighting for. Trade Review‘Her brilliant book could light a fire with its fury. It gets my synapses crackling and popping; I find I can’t sit down while reading it, so instead I pace the sitting room.’ * Pandora Sykes, Sunday Times *‘There’s a wonderful book by Clementine Ford that I advise every woman, and especially young women, to read called Fight Like a Girl.’ * Kate Beckinsale *'It's the wit and searing honesty of her own personal life laid bare where Fight Like a Girl truly shines.' * Independent.ie *‘This rallying cry will persuade you to battle for true equality, not the fake news version.’ * Stylist *‘Clementine Ford was put on this earth to give courage to the young girl inside all of us. This is an exciting, essential book from Australia’s most fearless feminist writer.’ * Laurie Penny, author of Unspeakable Things *‘Required reading for all young women in Australia... Yes, Fight Like A Girl will make you angry. It will make you feel uncomfortable. But, ultimately, it will inspire you to create change.’ * Marie Claire *'Required reading for every young man and woman, a brave manifesto for gender equality, harm minimisation and self-care.’ * The Australian *‘An intimate, though universal, call to arms... Ford’s book is a galvanizing tour de force, begging women to never give up on the most radical act of all: loving themselves wholly and completely in a world that doesn’t love them back.’ * Booklist *‘[A] fun, frank and fearless feminist manifesto...anyone hoping for an introduction to the most pressing topics in identity politics would do well to brush up under Ford's tutelage.’ * Irish Independent *‘With just the right balance of sarcasm and straightforward, informational content, writer and broadcaster Ford’s first book is one people need to read in the wake of the MeToo movement… Ford’s quick, provocative read will appeal to anyone who desires a better understanding of the complex, intersectional issues so often lumped into phrases such as rape culture.’ * Library Journal starred review *'Brilliant...it makes me want to chain myself to a barricade.' * The Sun-Herald *‘Fight Like A Girl is fuelled by Ford’s clear-eyed defiance and refusal to compromise, and by her powerful combination of personal testimony and political polemic. In the vein of Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman or Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist.’ * Books + Publishing *‘Clementine Ford was one of my very first formative feminist influences, initiating me into the world of feminism. She is someone whose tenacity and fearlessness I admire greatly, and she helped me along the path to becoming the humourless, bitter, lesbian feminist I am today.’ * Rebecca Shaw, writer, SBS *‘A beautiful, bittersweet journey to self-acceptance. A companion to all those still seeking to forge a sense of self. Clementine Ford has always been a bastion of shamelessness in a world that would rather see her defeated, and her book is a testament to the commitment she has to living fearlessly. I am comforted daily by her presence in the lives of young Australians, and I’m beyond thrilled that we now have her unique brilliance committed to these pages.’ * Caitlin Stasey, actor and creator of Herself.com *‘Clementine is furious and scathing when she needs to be, yet compassionate and encouraging every moment she can be. This book is both a confirmation of sisterhood and a call to arms.’ * Bri Lee, Hot Chicks with Big Brains *'The past few years have been a watershed for the elimination of violence against women in Australia, and Clementine’s voice has not only been instrumental, but has taken up a mainstream space that has aligned with and reinforced the efforts of the women’s services sector. We love her for that.' * Ada Conroy, family violence worker *'An inspiring, unapologetic, feminist manifesto that highlights with great clarity and dispassion the global socio-economic disparities that continue to exist between men and women and suggests how we can set about changing the patriarchal status quo in order to build a fairer, more egalitarian society in which women can also flourish. It’s time to change the way we all think about gender. And by doing so, create a brighter future for all humans.' -- Shirley Manson from Garbage‘The book I’ve been waiting for: an impassioned call to arms for girls of all ages.’ -- Anne Summers'With wit, insight and glorious, righteous rage, Clementine Ford lays out all the ways in which girls and women are hurt and held back, and unapologetically demands that the world do better. A passionate and urgently needed call to arms, Fight Like A Girl insists on our right to be angry, to be heard and to fight. It'll change lives.' -- Emily Maguire, author of An Isolated Incident

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Book SynopsisWhat if we took sex out of the box marked 'special', either the worst or best thing that a human person can experience, and considered it within the complexity of reality? In this extraordinary book, despite longstanding tabloid-style sexual preoccupations with villains and victims, shame and virtue, JoAnn Wypijewski does exactly that.From the HIV crisis to the paedophile priest panic, Woody Allen to Brett Kavanaugh, child pornography to Abu Ghraib, Wypijewski takes the most famous sex panics of the last decades and turns them inside out, weaving what together becomes a searing indictment of modern sexual politics, exposing the myriad ways sex panics and the expansion of the punitive state are intertwined.What emerges is an examination of the multiple ways in which the ever-expanding default language of monsters and victims has contributed to the repressive power of the state. Politics exists in the mess of life. Sex does too, Wypijewski insists and so must sexual politics, to make any sense at all.Trade ReviewWhat We Don't Talk About When We Talk About #MeToo speaks for many women who resist (sometimes quietly) the peer pressure that has no name, and for women dismayed by the politics of belief infecting our secular conversations about sex. Injustice has become a sustainable resource, and JoAnn Wypijewski has been documenting its variations quite eloquently for 25 years. Her reporting is solid and energetic. Wypijewski knows how to unpack a monster. -- Tracy Quan, author of Diary of a Manhattan Call GirlJust causes, Wypijewski reminds us, have a bad habit of overreaching justice. Revisiting some of the most notorious sex abuse cases of recent times, she shows how little attention the media has given to actual facts and alternative interpretations. These incisive and controversial essays are a tour d'force by a brilliant journalist with unbounded empathy. -- Mike DavisJoAnn Wypijewski stimulates us to think freshly about sex and sexual politics, and she is not afraid to infuriate both those who consider themselves sexual progressives and traditional conservatives. Let's call a town meeting of the whole country to grapple with the insights, the fury, and most of all the wisdom in this essential book. -- Peter Davis, Academy Award winning filmmaker of Hearts and Minds, author of Girl of My DreamsWypijewski lays bare the twisted logics we employ to convince ourselves that there are easy distinctions between love, brutality, sex, and capitalism. Forceful and brilliant analysis, an unrelenting excavation not just of what happened and to whom, but what it means to all of us watching from the sidelines. Wypijewski, like few other writers, provides an archaelogy of sex which is in turn an archaelogy of power. -- Yasmin NairUncomfortable, powerful, and moving; few writers can give us the nitty-gritty of sex and its messiness within the grand sweep of history, and get both the big picture and the details exactly right. -- Jeffrey Escoffier, author of American Homo, Research Associate at the Brooklyn Institute for Social ResearchJoAnn Wypijewski has written steadily and courageously on topics that paralyze other reporters into silence or lukewarm compromise. She knows that our horror of crime springs from the same root as our need for scapegoats. Her essays are always perceptive, and always worth reading -- David Bromwich, author of American Breakdown: The Trump Years and How They Befell UsFrom Woody Allen to Matthew Shepherd to monster priests and Harvey Weinsteins, today's high sex scandals are media and courtroom myths of total innocence versus total guilt-larded with very real, globalized rage. They're postmodern passion plays whose buy-in, not just from patriarchs but also from feminists, has rendered these narratives chillingly sterile-and dead in their sterility. For years, JoAnn Wypijewski has been packing her bags and visiting the venues of civic libido behind the scandals. And then, with beautiful prose and complex analysis, she reports back to us the true messiness: of sex, life, late capitalism, fear, and yet the hope that still breathes in the mess. Her work is a national treasure. -- Debbie Nathan, journalist, co-author of Satan’s Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch HuntJoAnn Wypijewski is the finest and most fearless literary journalist writing today, and in these crucial and stunningly beautiful essays she brings into bracing focus the deepest politics of desire. No other writer is telling these stories; maybe no other writer could with such generosity of spirit. 'Mercy is the scandal now,' she writes of the the ways in which too many have come to prefer the counting of sins to the dream of liberation, but this is no book of lamentations. Through a series of moments intimately observed, Wypijewski summons us again to consider the possibilities for pleasure, eros as ally, in any struggle to get free. Hers is a prophetic voice. -- Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family and This Brilliant DarknessUnpicks the logic that allows us to convince ourselves that there are easy distinctions to be made between love and brutality. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *

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