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Daughter, wife, mother, friend, sister, colleague — each of the female roles helps us discover new facets of personality, grow spiritually and build close contact with the world. We have compiled a selection of books that allow you to look at female nature from a different angle.
«Crow Lake»
Mary Lawson, Phantom Press
Thoughtful, gradually gaining strength, emotionally accurate novel by Mary Lawson «Crow Lake» was published 20 years ago and immediately fell in love with readers and critics.
A small farming community in Northern Ontario is in trouble. On happy days for the Morrison family, when it turns out that the eldest of four children went to college, the parents get into an accident and die. Luke, Matt, seven-year-old storyteller Kate, and little Bo are left alone and, each in their own way, struggle to stay a family and fulfill their (and parental) dreams.
When Kate, a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto, returns to Crow Lake many years later, she is confident that she has succeeded in breaking out of the wilderness, fulfilling herself, and leaving the past behind. It seems to her that she has long outgrown her family and she doesn’t really need their support. But it’s not.
Mary Lawson shows how much in our lives depends on the family and the love that we received in childhood.
Whatever dramas the Morrisons play out, their common beginning — the need to give, the ability to unite, to be together, to accept the help of others (although this is not easy) — gives everyone the strength to grow.
But another scenario is also possible. In the Pai family, who lives next door, relationships are built differently: on hatred, misunderstanding and hidden grievances. Mary Lawson brings these two worlds together, allowing the reader to feel the inner workings of each.
The author herself was born in a small place similar to Voronye Lake. Knowing the life of the Canadian hinterland from the inside and the necessary distance for the artist give her writer’s eye a stunning clarity. Her quiet, therapeutic novel encourages serious mental work and rethinking of seemingly obvious things: who we are and what feeds our lives.
Christine, daughter of Lavrans. Crown, Mistress, Cross»
Sigrid Unset, Text
The novel about the growing up of a golden-haired father’s daughter and her transformation into a bright, controversial and very lively person unfolds against the backdrop of the Norwegian realities of the XNUMXth century. In fact, the whole life of Christine, a proud and brave woman, a devoted wife, a loving mother, with her throwing, fears, doubts and mistakes, passes before our eyes. She follows her heart and accepts the consequences of her decisions.
“This is the best that is written about the female share,” said Marina Tsvetaeva about the Unset saga. The saga came out in 1920 and brought Sigrid Unset the Nobel Prize in Literature.
«Bird»
Anna Arkatova, Eksmo
What is female friendship? How much jealousy and rivalry is in it, and how much is admiration and worship? Why is one friend allowed more in a couple than the other, and on what scales are adoration and contempt measured? Perhaps the best answer to all these questions is Anna Arkatova in the title story «The Bird» (The Bird is the nickname of Irka Kuznetsova, the friend of the heroine-narrator).
But even further, reflecting on youth in the Soviet Union with school uniforms and excitement around the perfume «Madame Rocha» and the ups and downs of today, Arkatova talks about female nature. About confidence in one’s irresistibility or, on the contrary, unjustified doubts about it. She has a light style, a poet’s powers of observation and a great sense of humor.
«Magical April»
Elisabeth von Arnim, Livebook
Another delightfully outdated novel from the 1920s that matches the Unset saga in one way: it’s also about hearing yourself. It all starts in a London ladies’ club, when Mrs. Wilkins, a poor and not very happy married woman, sees an advertisement in The Times for a castle in Portofino, Italy. Mrs. Wilkins finds three companions who are also in dire need of a change of scenery. Well, then we will find out what spring sea air does to a wounded heart.
«DV: Diana Vreeland»
MYTH
The manager of haute couture of the twentieth century is distinguished by a sense of style, a penchant for introspection and a genuine interest in life. A column in Harper’s Bazaar, running Vogue magazine, being a curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute — for Diana Vreeland, these are more than career milestones. She does not write how to succeed, but clearly demonstrates: what you love and feel in your gut becomes the work of your whole life. Bibliotherapists should prescribe «D.V.» course — one chapter a week — to broaden horizons, develop taste and self-confidence.