Mary's Feminist Fiction Reading Group

Welcome to the wonderful Feminist Fiction Reading Group! A place to discover and enjoy a range of titles and themes lovingly hand picked by Mary. Woven together by feminist perspectives and critique, we will be discussing everything from unsung classics to contemporary literary fiction.

This June, join me in unpicking and understanding Internationally acclaimed Egyptian feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi’s landmark novel Woman at Point Zero. Translated from Arabic in 1983, this is a challenging but incredibly poignant retelling of a real life first account from a murderess.

Firdaus is on death row. Her crime, the murder of a man. Born into poverty in a rural Egyptian village, her childhood dreams and ambitions had been met with neglect and abuse by the world and the men who rule it. Driven to sex work to support herself, she is faced with the moral outrage of society and the bitter knowledge that for a woman, true freedom comes only when all hope is abandoned. In Woman at Point Zero, Firdaus tells her unforgettable story.

There’s no need to prepare or pressure to contribute at all - just bring your lovely self - but do feel free to mention a particular passage or character that you enjoyed during your reading.

Each entry place costs £5, fully redeemable as a voucher towards a copy of the book. We hope you’ll join us for some great conversation, and perhaps some baked goods!

Our Previous book group books include:

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Sula by Toni Morrison
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Queens of Sarmiento Park by Camila Sosa Villada
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
Hagstone by Sinead Gleeson?
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq
Long Petal of the Sea by Isabelle Allende
How to be both by Ali Smith