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A review by topdragon
Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World by Lyndall Gordon
3.0
I began reading this book hoping for a comparative biography of five groundbreaking women authors who had defied the shackles of their rigid societies and found ways to thrive through reading and writing. I suppose I got most of that but not quite in the way I was expecting.
This reads like a textbook or series of connected essays. Each of the women’s stories is covered thoroughly and biographical elements are fleshed out in thorough detail. But the focus is on how each of them, in their own ways, rejected the norms of the society and times they were living in and embraced their outsider status. For some, this was a conscious decision while others were more-or-less reacting to circumstances. Throughout the book there is a strong streak of feminism, especially for the later authors who lived through the beginnings of the women’s suffragist movement.
I was happy with the content that the author delivered. I am less enthusiastic about the style. This is not an easy read and I frequently found myself re-reading paragraphs to make sure I understood the material. At times I felt like I was reading this as part of a graduate-level course on Literature or Women’s Studies. Given the author’s background and status as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a fellow of St. Hilda’s College in Oxford, this is hardly surprising. In the end, I would have preferred a more grounded biography and less of an academic approach.
This reads like a textbook or series of connected essays. Each of the women’s stories is covered thoroughly and biographical elements are fleshed out in thorough detail. But the focus is on how each of them, in their own ways, rejected the norms of the society and times they were living in and embraced their outsider status. For some, this was a conscious decision while others were more-or-less reacting to circumstances. Throughout the book there is a strong streak of feminism, especially for the later authors who lived through the beginnings of the women’s suffragist movement.
I was happy with the content that the author delivered. I am less enthusiastic about the style. This is not an easy read and I frequently found myself re-reading paragraphs to make sure I understood the material. At times I felt like I was reading this as part of a graduate-level course on Literature or Women’s Studies. Given the author’s background and status as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a fellow of St. Hilda’s College in Oxford, this is hardly surprising. In the end, I would have preferred a more grounded biography and less of an academic approach.