Wonderful heroine, great setting, intriguing (but not super clever) mystery. I loved all the attention to period detail (even if my copy had some really weird lapses between the use of “thee” and “you”) and especially enjoyed the blunt way in which pregnancy and delivery are treated. As this book is set in 1800s Massachusetts …
Category: Feminism
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/02/25/delivering-the-truth-a-quaker-midwife-mystery-1-by-edith-maxwell/
Feb 11 2018
The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes #1) by Nancy Springer
A surprisingly unsentimental view of life in Victorian England, far removed from romance and riches. Our heroine, Enola Holmes, does start out moneyed, after a fashion: she lives on her ancestral estate with her mother, but Nancy Springer is quick to point out that the women aren’t rich in their own right, as all their …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/02/11/the-case-of-the-missing-marquess-enola-holmes-1-by-nancy-springer/
Jan 17 2018
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao
I fucking devoured this book. It is dark and brutal and cruel and one of the most honest portrayals of what it means to be a woman with ambition when everyone around you automatically assumes you lack agency because of your youth and beauty OR views you as a threat simply because of those last …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/01/17/forest-of-a-thousand-lanterns-rise-of-the-empress-1-by-julie-c-dao/
Nov 04 2017
Thor, Volume 1: The Goddess of Thunder by Jason Aaron
So I’ve been reading comic books for over three decades now and this is the first time I’ve actually given a damn about Thor. I mean, I’ve certainly watched all the movies (Ragnarok soon!) but Thor was always a secondary character to me even before then, and certainly not interesting enough to pick up a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/11/04/thor-volume-1-the-goddess-of-thunder-by-jason-aaron/
Jun 22 2017
Celine: A Novel by Peter Heller
I always love an older female crime solver, and Celine is hopefully the first in a series featuring such a heroine, loosely based on the author’s mother, who was also a blue blood debutante turned private investigator, handling primarily cases of family reunion. Hired by a beautiful middle-aged woman to investigate the disappearance of her …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/06/22/celine-a-novel-by-peter-heller/
May 15 2017
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
Reader, I devoured this book on my road trip to visit my in-laws over Mother’s Day weekend. It is, as the author admits, something of a ridiculous novel: a contemporary of Jane Eyre’s contemplates the similarities between their lives even as she herself, the titular Jane Steele, solves problems by means of murder, and finds …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/05/15/jane-steele-by-lyndsay-faye/
Aug 30 2016
The Just City by Jo Walton
I love so much how my experiences with Jo Walton’s books just get better and better. I spent the climactic scene of The Just City with one hand clutched to my breast, knowing something terrible was coming and feeling a kind of horror and relief when it finally did — horror because it truly was …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/08/30/the-just-city-by-jo-walton-2/
Jan 05 2016
Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein
I completely abused the Highlight function on my Kindle when reading this book. A vital, sensitive exploration of her childhood and youth, heading into maturity and fame, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl is written by Carrie Brownstein (and ONLY Carrie Brownstein) with a wit and honesty unusual for the vast majority of celebrity memoirs. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/01/05/hunger-makes-me-a-modern-girl-by-carrie-brownstein/
Nov 06 2015
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
So you get to the one part in the book (and anyone who’s read it will know what I’m talking about) and you stop, stunned. And you go back and you read the last part over again. And if you’re me, and essentially a British schoolgirl at your core, like Maddy you burst into uncontrollable …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/11/06/code-name-verity-by-elizabeth-wein/
Jul 04 2015
Treatise on the Diseases of Women by Lydia Estes Pinkham
Fascinating insight into the world of medicine and health at the turn of the 20th century. Lydia Pinkham was certainly a pioneer in her frank discussions with women regarding their health. Essentially a collection of the advertising material created for her medicines, this book presents the most up-to-date (for the time) science regarding women’s health …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/07/04/treatise-on-the-diseases-of-women-by-lydia-estes-pinkham/