elementarymydear's Reviews (967)

 

Out of Focus is a wonderful short story of the romance between Alex, a theatre lighting technician, and Luke, his production manager. When Alex suffers an injury, Luke takes care of him, and, well… you’ll have to read it to find out what happens! A. L. Lester is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, and when I saw they had written story set in Wales AND in a theatre, I had to read it straight away!

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While the story itself is quite short and covers a short time period – a couple of days plus an epilogue – we still got a real sense of the characters, their backstories and their relationships to one another. Although we just saw the ‘getting together’ part of the relationship, we got a glimpse into the months leading up to it that helped the whole story feel much more fleshed out and grounded. There was also some added drama from the other characters, always welcome – especially in a story set in the theatre!

This was a really lovely read, and an extra shout out to the inclusion of some Welsh as well!

Thank you to the author for providing an advance copy for review. All opinions are my own.

 

 The Crux is a little-known work from Charlotte Perkins Gilman, best known for The Yellow Wallpaper. It tells the story of a group of women who move west to begin a business together, and is a parable for what Perkins Gilman saw as the hidden dangers facing young women at the time.

Reviewing a book like this is always a conundrum. My enjoyment and appreciation of the book is as much for its historical context and insight as it is for the book itself.

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This is where a good introduction can make a huge difference, which this book accomplishes with its new introduction by Ambrose Kelly. Kelly lays out the context brilliantly, drawing our attention to the key themes and explaining how they fit into first-wave feminism.

Having read that introduction, I enjoyed the book much more. We follow a varied group of women, from the young aspiring teacher to the world-weary doctor, as they fight to be informed and in control of their own health and futures. As broad goals, these concerns are very much still at the heart of the feminist movement, even if some of the finer details have changed.

The finer details are, in my opinion, where the most interesting part of this book lies. It sheds light on the importance of eugenics to many early white feminists. It starts an important discussion about how much feminism has changed – and how much still needs to change. What is presented by Perkins Gilman as a simple cautionary tale could potentially spark a very interesting and nuanced conversation over a century after its initial release about health, fertility and autonomy.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a copy for review. All opinions are my own. I have written and published this review as part of Love Books Tours. 

 In British Malay (now Singapore) in the early 20th Century, young woman are routinely taken advantage of as mui tsai. Mui tsai (‘little sisters’) are young women and girls, ‘adopted’ into families as indentured servants. In The House of Little Sisters, we follow sixteen-year-old Ah Mei as she is sold to the Lee household. As she uncovers the horrors of the past she works to find a way to gain her freedom and be with the man she loves.

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As International Women’s Day approaches, it’s the perfect time to discover the stories of women from all over the world, and from all different eras. Set during a pivotal moment in history, The House of Little Sisters does such a fantastic job of both humanising real people’s stories while still giving a sense of the wider perspective and the sheer numbers of people affected. It reminded me of The Girl with the Louding Voice with its simultaneous focus on an individual woman’s empowerment and the wider systemic changes needed for the liberation of all.

Eva Wong Nava does a fantastic job of portraying the complexity of people, showing how the society we grow up in shapes our perspectives and sometimes blinds us to either our own oppression or our own privilege. And on top of all that, she has written a wonderfully engaging and immersive historical fiction. What more could you want?

Thank you to Love Books Tours for providing me with a free copy in exchange for a review.