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annabelws23's review
4.0
I read this slower than I expected to, taking a hiatus for a few weeks while I was researching for a PhD. The format of the book lent itself nicely to the break. It is essentially separate mini-biographies of 5 trailblazing women at the start of the 20thC: poet H.D.; detective novelist Dorothy L. Sayers; historian Jane Ellen Harrison; economist Ellen Power; and writer Virginia Woolf. As I had left it at a chapter break, it was easy to pick it back up and sustain the interest and enjoyment I was experiencing before I put it down. Wade's writing is erudite and deceptively simple; she packs a lot into the 350 pages of biography (as the 100 following pages of notes attest to).
Although it markets itself as a group biography which utilizes a shared space, Mecklenburgh Square, as the nexus for activism, experiment and revolution, 'a hidden literary and artistic hothouse' in London's Bloomsbury quarter, the square functions more as a stalking horse for Wade to draw these 5 women together. Each biographic chapter is mostly self-contained and explores the forces of injustice each woman faced in her life - not only during their time in the square but across the spans of their lives - and explores the radical ways they lived in opposition to what was expected of a woman in this period. While these women knew of each other, some more intimately than others, and each biography builds upon the next by drawing thematic and biographical links, these women did not, in fact, live in the square all-together. Wade's study's build a dynamic chronology of the inter-war period, starting with H.D. who occupied the square circa WWI to Woolf whose flat was destroyed in the blitz-but the book extends past this time-frame and investigates its women through to their deaths further into the century.
Nevertheless, these biographies are bookended by chapters which focus on the square itself, bringing its inhabitants back to Mecklenburgh and exploring the potential for a shared, communal, history that a place can create. In doing so, Square Haunting stays true to its conceit, while having its cake and eating it, so to speak. Wade can craft rich biographies of these 5 women without forcing all facets of their lives to revolve around this square, can maintain Mecklenburgh as a significant force to the various stages of their lives in which they occupied it, and can sustain a collective memory of the square's space. It also allows Wade to recover the history of these women, particularly Jane Ellen Harrison and Ellen Power, who like so many women of their time, have fallen into the footnotes of the men they inspired and were mentors to, and so historicizes the experiences of all women who have faced the injustice of disremembering.
H.D., Dorothy L. Sayers, Jane Ellen Harrison, Ellen Power and Virginia Woolf do, indeed, haunt the square with their shared histories, making for a moving and bittersweet biography.
Although it markets itself as a group biography which utilizes a shared space, Mecklenburgh Square, as the nexus for activism, experiment and revolution, 'a hidden literary and artistic hothouse' in London's Bloomsbury quarter, the square functions more as a stalking horse for Wade to draw these 5 women together. Each biographic chapter is mostly self-contained and explores the forces of injustice each woman faced in her life - not only during their time in the square but across the spans of their lives - and explores the radical ways they lived in opposition to what was expected of a woman in this period. While these women knew of each other, some more intimately than others, and each biography builds upon the next by drawing thematic and biographical links, these women did not, in fact, live in the square all-together. Wade's study's build a dynamic chronology of the inter-war period, starting with H.D. who occupied the square circa WWI to Woolf whose flat was destroyed in the blitz-but the book extends past this time-frame and investigates its women through to their deaths further into the century.
Nevertheless, these biographies are bookended by chapters which focus on the square itself, bringing its inhabitants back to Mecklenburgh and exploring the potential for a shared, communal, history that a place can create. In doing so, Square Haunting stays true to its conceit, while having its cake and eating it, so to speak. Wade can craft rich biographies of these 5 women without forcing all facets of their lives to revolve around this square, can maintain Mecklenburgh as a significant force to the various stages of their lives in which they occupied it, and can sustain a collective memory of the square's space. It also allows Wade to recover the history of these women, particularly Jane Ellen Harrison and Ellen Power, who like so many women of their time, have fallen into the footnotes of the men they inspired and were mentors to, and so historicizes the experiences of all women who have faced the injustice of disremembering.
H.D., Dorothy L. Sayers, Jane Ellen Harrison, Ellen Power and Virginia Woolf do, indeed, haunt the square with their shared histories, making for a moving and bittersweet biography.
caitie711's review
5.0
A lovely exploration of five women, half (?) of whom most folks haven't even heard of. You will want to know even more about them, and read their works, by the time you're finished: Wade's hard work and deft descriptions reveal how fascinating and important they were.
swarnak84's review against another edition
2.0
Five interesting women, with tangential links, but using Mecklenberg Square to link them just isn't cohesive.
I would rate the Dorothy L Sayers and Eileen Power chapters as 4* and I very much enjoyed them, however, they seemed appetisers to finding out more. I struggled through the HD chapter, Jane Harrison perhaps should have been the first chapter. As for Virginia Woolf - I feel her inclusion is a marketing gimmick for the book as the author could never hope to cover her in any depth here. Perhaps she should have been left to drift in and out of the other women's lives and experiences without having a Chapter of her own.
I would rate the Dorothy L Sayers and Eileen Power chapters as 4* and I very much enjoyed them, however, they seemed appetisers to finding out more. I struggled through the HD chapter, Jane Harrison perhaps should have been the first chapter. As for Virginia Woolf - I feel her inclusion is a marketing gimmick for the book as the author could never hope to cover her in any depth here. Perhaps she should have been left to drift in and out of the other women's lives and experiences without having a Chapter of her own.
readingoverbreathing's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I've had my eye on this book for a while — in fact, even almost went to an author event at Topping that was unfortunately cancelled in the early wake of COVID. So when I found a used paperback copy in excellent condition at an Oxfam, I simply couldn't resist.
And honestly, this was everything I wanted it to be and more. I always find any nonfiction to be a bit of a gamble — you don't always know if it's going to be worth your time and energy. But to me, this was worth every single word. Wade manages to pull off an incredibly impressive feat, packing five comprehensive, detailed biographies into less than 300 pages. Seriously, the amount of detail here is astounding; every single sentence is packed with it, putting Wade's powers of research on full display. She even manages to find kernels of connection between the five women she features, really creating a vivid portrayal of interwar Bloomsbury that truly brings these women and their worlds to life.
Despite this level of detail, the narrative itself never feels too heavy or bogged down and is in fact immensely readable, not quite at novel level, but just about. I really found myself eager to dig in every time I went to pick this up; I learned so much, too, about both those already familiar to me (H.D., Sayers, Woolf) and those that weren't (Harrison, Power).
I will admit that I have long had a penchant for this period in literary history, and especially the women who defined it, so this was very much up my alley. But I would still certainly recommend it to anyone with an interest in women scholars and writers; this is an absolutely fascinating portrait of 5 women who all at various points in their extraordinary lives lived within mere feet of one another.
And honestly, this was everything I wanted it to be and more. I always find any nonfiction to be a bit of a gamble — you don't always know if it's going to be worth your time and energy. But to me, this was worth every single word. Wade manages to pull off an incredibly impressive feat, packing five comprehensive, detailed biographies into less than 300 pages. Seriously, the amount of detail here is astounding; every single sentence is packed with it, putting Wade's powers of research on full display. She even manages to find kernels of connection between the five women she features, really creating a vivid portrayal of interwar Bloomsbury that truly brings these women and their worlds to life.
Despite this level of detail, the narrative itself never feels too heavy or bogged down and is in fact immensely readable, not quite at novel level, but just about. I really found myself eager to dig in every time I went to pick this up; I learned so much, too, about both those already familiar to me (H.D., Sayers, Woolf) and those that weren't (Harrison, Power).
I will admit that I have long had a penchant for this period in literary history, and especially the women who defined it, so this was very much up my alley. But I would still certainly recommend it to anyone with an interest in women scholars and writers; this is an absolutely fascinating portrait of 5 women who all at various points in their extraordinary lives lived within mere feet of one another.
northerly_heart_reads's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Most lived only a few years in the square, and they didn’t necessarily overlap. A strange book in that Mecklenburg Sq had little to do with the writers’ development. Nothing special about living there.🤷🏼♀️
lakecake's review
4.0
I won a copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways.
This is an excellent portrait of five women and the time they spent in the Mecklenberg Square neighborhood of London at various times between the World Wars. Thorough, well-researched and excellently written, it remains easy to read because the focus is relatively narrow. The interweaving of these women's lives is fascinating, and the central theme of their time at Mecklenberg Square (some of them even lived in the same apartment, just years apart) is an amazing thread holding it all together. Wade does an excellent job of making the women come to life. Many of us are already familiar with Virginia Woolf and Dorothy L. Sayers, but the other women here prove just as fascinating to me and I can't wait to now go out and research them more fully. I found this to be an amazing portrait of life in London spanning World War I and World War II and what that time period was like for women, particularly those looking to blaze a new trail. Highly recommend.
This is an excellent portrait of five women and the time they spent in the Mecklenberg Square neighborhood of London at various times between the World Wars. Thorough, well-researched and excellently written, it remains easy to read because the focus is relatively narrow. The interweaving of these women's lives is fascinating, and the central theme of their time at Mecklenberg Square (some of them even lived in the same apartment, just years apart) is an amazing thread holding it all together. Wade does an excellent job of making the women come to life. Many of us are already familiar with Virginia Woolf and Dorothy L. Sayers, but the other women here prove just as fascinating to me and I can't wait to now go out and research them more fully. I found this to be an amazing portrait of life in London spanning World War I and World War II and what that time period was like for women, particularly those looking to blaze a new trail. Highly recommend.
hooksforeverything's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The telling of stories about women who believed that telling stories about women was intrinsically revolutionary.