And from Edith to Simone (a much easier leap)

Edith Wharton and Simone de Beauvoir: New Yorker and Parisian, yet definitely two of a kind. Both were huge inspirations to me, as a fledgling writer in my twenties, when I felt stuck and angry with myself for lacking courage and taking the wrong, easy path in life and ending up thoroughly lost in the woods. I'd just spent four years at university studying books mostly written by men - and I'd loved it. But in a kind of desperate instinct to find my way back to myself, I began a journey into books written by women. I read everything by Edith and Simone and many other ground-breaking women writers. The most important thing I learned was that the 'easy' road is always the hardest in the end. But there is always a way back to yourself.

And, if you want to write, you pick up a pen.

So when I read this about Simone de Beauvoir in today's Guardian by Zoe Williams, it made me laugh:

"Ollivier includes small pull-out sections on French Girls We Love and has the brass neck, ladies, to include Simone de Beauvoir, who is apparently "known as one of the 20th-century's most interesting and important women. Her memoirs reveal an independent, self-defined woman who made conscious (if existentialist!) choices regarding love and work ..."

I don't even know where to start with that, but at random, let's start here: can you imagine what De Beauvoir would have said about being called a girl? About being included in a book whose next chapter explains why it's important to buy your walking shoes in Prada, because you can never be too well dressed? About being name-checked by a person who doesn't just not know the meaning of the word existentialist, but can't even be arsed to look it up before committing it to a paperback? Can you imagine? She would have had a cow.

... surely there's more to being a French woman than not eating a whole portion of anything and knowing who Simone de Beauvoir is, even if you do not, strictly speaking, know anything she ever said."

Wonderful, Zoe.

A bit about that ('existentialist!') girl Simone here.

PS - problems with the comments section here and my website email. Things are not getting through. Apologies if you think you are being ignored. Will be sorted asap!

From Slash to Edith

Yes, quite a leap there. From demented rock god to Edith Wharton. But Ms Wharton was far more the rebellious spirit of the cartoon, above, than the prim lady of her portrait. So maybe they would get along.

I'm staggeringly late in putting this up, but better late than never (as I always say to my publishers).

I was honoured when one of my favourite 'online coffeestops', the wonderful Normblog, invited me to join his illustrious list of writers. I had to write about my favourite book for Norm's Writer's Choice series. An enjoyable task which proved almost impossible. So, in the end, after ransacking my bookshelves and ending up with a pile on the floor almost as tall as myself, I settled for one of my most favourite books (the one I'd re-read most recently): Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence.

You can read my Writer's Choice here and there are lots more.
Here's the Amazon link if you would like to read it yourself.