Mary's Feminist Fiction Reading Group

Welcome to the wonderful Feminist Fiction Reading Group! A place to discover and enjoy a range of titles and themes lovingly hand picked by Mary. Woven together by feminist perspectives and critique, we will be discussing everything from unsung classics to contemporary literary fiction.

Rediscovered and championed by Alice Walker in the 1970s, Zora Neale Hurston’s lyrical novel of self-discovery, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is now acclaimed as one of the greatest American classics of the twentieth century. Both an adventurous love story and coming of age tale, this Harlem Renaissance book will touch you deeply.

Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth.

When, at sixteen, Janie is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams - who offers not diamonds, but a packet of flowering seeds.

‘There is no novel I love more’ - Zadie Smith

‘This novel is a packet of surprises’ - Guardian

‘One of the greatest writers of our time’ - Toni Morrison

‘Zora Neale Hurston was a knockout’ - Maya Angelou

‘There is no book more important to me than this one. It speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done.’ - Alice Walker

There’s no need to prepare or pressure to contribute at all - just bring your lovely self - but do feel free to mention a particular passage or character that you enjoyed during your reading.

Each entry place costs £5, fully redeemable as a voucher towards a copy of the book. We hope you’ll join us for some great conversation, and perhaps some baked goods!

Our Previous book group books include:

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Sula by Toni Morrison
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Queens of Sarmiento Park by Camila Sosa Villada
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
Hagstone by Sinead Gleeson?
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq
Long Petal of the Sea by Isabelle Allende
How to be both by Ali Smith
Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
She Who Remains by Rene Karabash