A review by emilybh
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin

3.0

Whilst this is a good read, it wasn't what I expected - rather than focusing on women's walking practices in different cities, Elkin keeps returning to Paris in long passages about the French capital's history that often seem unrelated to the topic she sets out in her introduction. Other passages are heavily autobiographical - the chapter on Tokyo is an example, which though interesting lacks any detailed accounts of walking through the place, which is framed largely in terms of it not being Paris. There are great sections, but overall the book feels like a missed opportunity to re-engage with a range of women's experiences of walking in cities, both historical and contemporary.