Tuesday, 15 January 2019

January 2019: The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley



A violent choice to start our reading year: a dynamic, lyrical, feminist reimagining of Beowulf for contemporary times. Headley's novel provoked rich discussion - about the narrative style and structure in particular; with a chorus of women agreeing about the power of the 'siren' voices in particular. We were also interested in the construction and deconstruction of the hero figure and the notion of what we perceive to be 'monstrous'. Thanks to Hazel for hosting in Horsham.


Next month's book is Sally Rooney's Normal People, and Dawn will host in Crawley.

2 comments:

  1. I know the book is not perfect, but I have to say I really love it.

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    Replies
    1. I agree! There were some beautiful, haunting moments.

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