Shelf life: our favourite reads
THIS WEEK: It’s here – the compulsive, controversial follow-up to the viral hit short story that was Cat Person
You Know You Want This Kristen Roupenian (£ 12.99, JONATHAN CAPE)
This is the much anticipated first collection of stories from the author of last year’s viral sensation Cat Person. Looking at modern gender and power dynamics, these uncomfortable tales are frequently (understandably) dark – and sometimes horrific – but equally often there is sheer relief at hearing someone brilliantly articulate those itchy-scratchy ‘Is it just me?’ irritations and neuroses. From a self-proclaimed ‘ biter’ to the nameless, naked man, this may not be an easy read, but it’s an original one.
GET THE BALANCE RIGHT
While I love that the pages of Grazia offer a helping of feminism alongside fashion and beauty, I can’t help but feel that the portrayal of working mums has been unbalanced recently. I’ve read two articles about women who have had to give up working full-time to care for their children and another about how working mums are 40% more stressed out than the rest of the population (11 Feb). Surely there are mums out there who work full-time and are happy. And surely you can print articles about these women in an effort to inspire more mums to continue to pursue a career after having children. Ellen
THANK YOU FOR NOTICING
Thank you Polly and Grazia for taking a stand for us – someone is finally listening ( We need to reverse Northern Ireland’s ‘ cruel and inhumane’ law on abortion, 4 Feb). The women of Northern Ireland
have long been denied the basic human rights that the rest of our sisters in the UK take as a given. It’s time to stop forcing women and girls in already horrendous circumstances to have to flee the country to access safe healthcare. Sharon
HAPPY MILESTONE, JEN!
I enjoyed Jen at 50: she’s at the height of her power (11 Feb). I love how she fights her corner, gets on with her life, works hard and nurtures her friendships. She is talented, successful, smart and sincere. I have always admired her and she has inspired me to be brave, hold my head high and be positive through the bad times or when people have criticised me. Manisa