Down Among the Women

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Praxis (1978) is noted for the development of its heroine, who endures in the face of repeated disasters. Her friends are no happier: Sylvia, a born victim; respectable Jocelyn, hopelessly trapped in her dull, bourgeois existence; Audrey, who finally breaks out of her conventional life; and Helen, beautiful, vibrant, and doomed.

She moved to TV drama (writing the pilot episode of the iconic series Upstairs Downstairs ) then turned to novels - including the classic The Life and Loves of a She Devil and the Booker-shortlisted Praxis . Yet here we all are by accident of birth, sprouted breasts and bellies, as cyclical of nature as our timekeeper the moon - and down here among the women we have no option but to stay. The novel follows a group of 'friends' as they grow into women, amidst the patriarchal structure of post-war British society.The part that was the most interesting to me was how cruel the women could be (especially to each other) when they were unhappy and bitter because of it.

The gaudy cover of this particular edition doesn’t do the contents justice in this regard: the pink crepe background and the cheeky snapshots of 50s cliches seem rather lightweight in comparison to the scenes of destruction that lie within. ONCE AGIN I AM SITTING AND LAUGHING AT THE ANTICS OF WOMEN WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER -NEEDLESS TO SAY THIS IS A GREAT READ.

It’s a wry, smart, darkly funny book, and there are occasional glimpses of an early 70s hipsterism in the style that I sometimes found grating. Fogli ben conservati, saldi e privi di sgualciture da lettura, tonalità ossidate vintage, tagli bruniti dalla luce. Respectable wife, unmarried mother, divorcee, femme fatale - these are roles that society demands from Scarlet, Jocelyn, Helen, Susan and Audrey.

This novel marked the beginning of what I know will be a long acquaintance between me and Fay Weldon, its author. As a feminist, I am aware that many women in our Western society are still victims but, apart from trying to work their way out of their misery by latching onto a male as support, they don't stir themselves to make life better. Over the course of twenty years, they will discover it’s never too late to become the women they are meant to be. There’s Helen, who begins as a model working with artists known only as X and Y; an affair with X soon turns into a far more complicated sort of menage a trois.All of these women, in whatever their own circumstances, are unhappy and bitter and although there are moments of relief and redemption, each of them are more than willing to throw one another under the (metaphorical) bus when suits. Scarlet, on the other hand, simply wants to have a nice time in life -- hence her adoption of a constant stream of casual male partners -- but she’s starved for true affection at home. An icily funny account of a dawning feminist sensibility in a world where the romantic ideal of love and domesticity ruled. Fortunately that wasn’t the case because I couldn’t keep my grubby little fingers away from this book.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Not being familiar with this author’s work, I had little idea of what to expect, and all through the opening pages I was expecting a kind of social comedy with a political edge. A queste donne non resta che cercare di sopravvivere; e poi guardare con speranza alle nuove generazioni, cresciute diversamente da come le madri avevano cresciuto loro, destinate a rompere con molti degli schemi che le avevano soffocate, una volta approdate nei tumultuosi anni '60. I used to love them, but now I’m reading this one, it seems like a parody, since she has such a characteristic, flippant style.Giù, tra le donne, se stai molto, molto attenta e chiudi gli occhi e ti tappi gli orecchi e tieni ben strette le ginocchia tranne in rare occasioni, puoi davvero vivere felice. Gradually the plot moves away from Scarlet and through these lives and others, spiralling outwards until certain parallels emerge between all these lives: the sense of male-female relationships as a series of inevitable and painful compromises, both romantic and financial, and the ever-present twin threats of violence and poverty which keep women in their place. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. If we look upward, it’s not toward the stars or the ineffable, it’s to dust the tops of the windows.