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No adequate book image sorry.
This autobiography documents the amazing life of Sonja Davies; a prominent New Zealand feminist, trade unionist, member of the peace movement and MP for the Labour Party in the late-1980s to the early-1990s. Davies shares with amazing insight her early life, born as an illegitimate child in 1920s New Zealand brought up by her grandparents in Oamaru. The chapter is entitled "A different childhood" and this conceptualises her life very well. Later on, living with her mother and life as a child in New Zealand at this time is most accurately represented. The book continues as Davies left shcool early to enter the workforce, went to nurses school and eventually became a vital part of the movement for trade unions in New Zealand. Amidst all of this, she marries at 17, before falling in love with an American marine, later killed in the Pacific part of World War II. Giving birth to her first child, she becomes very sick and this begins her years-long battle with tuberculosis. Despite this, this amazing woman came through all of this, married and continued her amazing work as an activist in New Zealand Labour Federations, child care centres and her first political contests.
There is no doubting that Davies had a difficult life, from the very beginning she was different, a 'love child' with a colourful family life. It is made clear here that this woman who thinks she was just one of many was a hero in many ways and definitely a huge figure. This book covers her life up until the 1980s and how she dealt with the many challenges life threw at her. There is nothing innately astonishing about Davies' writing, but it is her firm honesty and compassion to the cause which catches the reader. Her relationships with a wide variety of prominent New Zealand names including Norman Kirk (former NZ Prime Minister), Walter Nash (former NZ Prime Minister), Mary Varnham (former Labour Press Secretary for David Lange) and Sue Kedgley (current Green Party MP). The latter two co-editors of another book I have reviewed which Sonja Davies also had a chapter in. It is also clear that Davies had a deep connection with her environment, living all over New Zealand at various times in her life and appreciating the sights it has to offer.
The one downside I would suggest this book has is its confusing timeline. The subtitles suggest the book is written chronologically, but at many times different things happening at similar times are in different chapters. I can obviously understand why she would want to separate aspects such as her son Mark's tragic death but this did confuse me as a reader and I think it would have represented the many things this amazing woman did even more if they had all been included in the same chunk. A further review of her second book Marching On... will come later.
Overall an amazing read (apparently also made into a movie) documenting the life of one of New Zealand's forthright figures in trade unionism. I would highly recommend it to any New Zealander, regardless of their political stance. It is a highly historical account of New Zealand and growing up in New Zealand.
Sonja Davies died in 2005.
According to Amazon, this astonishing book was originally written as Millett's doctoral thesis in 1968 and is now widely regarded as a feminist classic. The book looks at American literature including works by D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Norman Mailer, John Stewart Mill and Jean Genet. Millett examines in depth the structures and values in the literature and the passages she quotes from each text are truly telling of the argument she puts across. The critique and analysis she provides is amazing and its in-depth look at the politics of sex is supported by the provided literature. While the reader can be stunned at these analyses, we can also see hope in the incredibly telling writings of Jean Genet.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it wasn't the easiest read in the world and more or less put me off at least Henry Miller's books for a good while, but at the same time it was incredibly thought-provoking of an area that has largely been overlooked as influencing public opinion of gender relations and sex.
The book also provided an interesting look at gender relations under the law of coverture in the Western world with excerpts from Blackstone's Commentaries - the foremost legal writings of the time included. It also took a look at sexual politics in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia among others. This part of the book was so interesting I almost changed the topic of an essay plan in fascination over it. But I will leave the eager reader to devour its brilliant contents.
As well as this, there was an entire chapter on Freud, psychoanalysis and general beliefs about women's psychology. The social pretension of the concept of "penis envy" is displayed in what is remarkable from a book of the time, when these beliefs about psychology were still so prevalent.
A stellar read I would recommend to anyone and everyone.
This book was simply epic, following the life of Mira, a woman who grows up and experiences the second wave of the feminist movement firsthand. Mira grows up in the confines of her parents' expectations where she is expected to stay a virgin and marry well. Despite being an incredibly smart child, no one around her ever suggests that she go further with her education and it is simply expected she will become a housewife. Through her marriage she experiences no pleasure in sex, days filled with hard work taking care of children and cleaning the house; she is expected to have dinner on the table and the house spotless when her husband, and aspiring doctor comes home from work. Socially, in her working class neighbourhood there are friendships and relationships that remind me a bit of the TV show Desperate Housewives with affairs and secrets going on left, right and centre. One of her close friends also begins going to university which at the time she thinks is simply shocking but her viewpoint changes throughout the book.
The characters are one of the startling parts about this book. All the characters are portrayed in the book at different times in their lives with different evolving beliefs. Many of the characters' fates show how damaging and tiring the role of a housewife was when it was more prevalent back in the 1950s and 60s. Only when Mira's marriage breaks up and she decides to go to university and gets into Harvard does she meet the people who are part of the student movement for civil rights and gender equality. She also meets the man who sees pleasing her sexually as important, in stark contrast to her husband who never cared. Returning home to her parents' house she finds herself not able to explain her life as it would shock them (divorce has already made her the shame of the family). Her two children who visit her regularly also become important as they symbolise the new generation, much more accepting of her life. It is at this stage of the book that she becomes what she wants to be and who she wants to be, ignoring the people who will not support her.
It also showed some of the class that came to be known as 'radical feminism' and the events that leads one of Mira's best friends to distrust men totally. Throughout the book many of Mira's friends have their lives changed for the worst by reliance on and trust in men. This book is truly a work of its time. At times it has you laughing, and at other times crying and the characters are built up continually through their experiences and discussions as well as their secrets and discomforts. I absolutely loved this book, truly poignant and emotion provoking. Some have criticised it as being a bit too radical, but it wasn't just about bad men, there were also good men and it showed some of the reasoning behind the more radical facets of the movement.
Please, please read this book I can't recommend it enough. You will laugh, you will want to cry and it will open your eyes. I also recommend another of her books Our Father which is similarly sad and amazing.
