Here's to the women finding a room of their own

As you know, I'm turning my hand to fiction (find it on Substack) and I had this genius idea to bring my characters together by having them join a book club. The idea is to begin in 2015 when the women (there are men in there too but they aren't in the book club - will explain later) are all mothers to fairly young children.

That's the only thing they have in common at that point and my idea is to take them on a journey through to 2025, explore what life throws at them and see how the relationships they develop help (or hinder). As well as being a reason to get them together, the device of a book club could introduce works of fiction that also throw up interesting dilemmas/philosophies/themes.

Genius! Or so I thought.

The problem now is that in order for them to discuss a book, I have to remember what it's about and that's easier said than done. Which is why I now find myself having to re-read Mrs Dalloway which might be short in a literal sense (172 pages) it's MASSIVE in a thematic sense. On top of which there are no chapters, it's all stream of consciousness, so you really have to concentrate.

So I now have yet another excuse/reason to avoid actually doing any writing. The only way I'm ever going to get this done is by giving myself artificial deadlines, so I'm committing to releasing a chapter every two weeks, on a Thursday. Here's Chapter one if you're interested. Chapter three drops this Thursday.

Men and Book Clubs

I would love to hear from any man who is in a book club. I'm sure they are out there but I have never met one. The male partners of my own book club members, not to be outdone, started their own club shortly after we launched. They were all far too busy to spend time reading fiction so they decided their's would be a film club.

It lasted exactly one meeting, which was held in the local pub, at which they failed to discuss whatever film it was that none of them had bothered to rewatch, firmly believing that the opinion they acquired the first time round (probably when they were about seventeen) still held. It took about twenty minutes for them all to fall out with each other and the whole project was abandoned.

The women's group, in the meantime, are into our twenty-first year.

Virginia Woolf

Re-reading Mrs Dalloway is humbling, to say the least. I'd forgotten (if I ever realised) how ground breaking Virginia Woolf was as a writer. It's lead me to also pick up A Room of One's Own, which is full of insightful nuggets, including this:

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself

Don't you love it? Her work questions our own sense of self, identity, our capability to transform and above all what it is to be a woman. Phenomenal.

A Summer of Women Being Themselves

I went to All Points East yesterday. One of the headliners had pulled out with no explanation earlier in the week but to be honest with you I didn't really know much about her or any of the others, I'd just agreed to go along with little friend Alex and her daughter, who were coming over from France to attend.

My daughter and her friends were going, along another mum and friend of mine called Sally.

Unusually, it was a very female packed line up, including Jade (who apparently used to be in Little Mix), Tyla, who I'd never heard of but who is the "next big superstar" and Raye who came from under the radar to win six Brit awards last year.

They were all fantasic but what I found even more joyful was watching the audience, jam packed full of (mostly) women of all ages, shapes and sizes, singing, dancing, laughing, and generally having a huge amount of fun, with no inhibitions whatsoever. I think the highlight was watching everyone in the audience join in with what I now know to be Tyla's signature "bacardi" dance. It basically involves shaking your booty a LOT.

Found this. Gives you the basic idea.

Here we are. The margaritas also helped. We were better at drinking than shaking our booties it has to be said.

Freestyle

Talking of women taking up space, I notice the women's rugby world cup has just started. Hot on the heels of what most people agree was an inspirational European football championship. It has to be good for young women and girls to see this stuff, to acknowledge just what our bodies are capable (beyond the dancing stuff).

Speaking of which, I have to now mention that my friend's daughter, who has to be one of the most humble, self effacing young women I know, has quietly been building herself up to this. This video isn't her but she showed me a video of herself practising this move but onto a large crash mat, since there is no snow around in Europe at the moment.

Just to clarify, in case you lose track of what's happening, it's a Dub 10which involves (had to google this bit: a double cork 1080, an advanced trick involving two off-axis flips (corks) and three full spins, resulting in a total of 1080 degrees of rotation.

Where do you even begin?

The Cultural Slot

I'm reading: Mrs Dalloway. Pay attention at the back. Also started Wellness by Nathan Hill which I think is going to be FANTASTIC. And finished The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. Long but very lovely.

I'm watching: Hostage, new on Netflix. Actually, having got through about fifty percent of the first episode, I am NOT watching Hostage. Utter rubbish.

I'm listening to: The rest is entertainment with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman. Can't do politics at the moment.

What's Cooking

Shawarma chicken and shawarma vegetables with warm chickpea puree and sumac onions. With a couscous salad. Diana Henry for a change