Just last weekend I was sat in a field next to a forest, reading a beautiful book by one of my favourite authors. I’m not sure if I can officially say this, as I’ve only read one other of her books, but it was magical (officially magical realism, and my first of that genre), and it led me to buy three more of her books (thank you charity shops)! My friend introduced me to her a year or so ago, although she currently reads them in Isabel’s native language. I read the translated versions, but one thing I did learn was how to pronounce her beautiful name, which is well worth asking a Spanish-speaker to say out loud for you!
I kept having to stop, re-read paragraphs, and fold over the pages. I’m just going to take a moment to acknowledge this controversial statement - it’s taken a long time for me to be OK with folding pages… my justification is at least I’m not writing in it – I jest, I have many text books with writing in! You can also ask Zoe about my fear of cutting up books, especially ones with sheet music in. But please do share any strong thoughts you may have on defacing, I mean annotating, books below!
Isabel raised so many wonderful points in The Soul of a Woman, from accepting people for who they are or choose to be, right through to the significance of a nation’s level of violence against women, and how this then normalizes all other forms of violence. There were discussions of feminism, patriarchy, refugees, retirement, menopause, movie stars, charity, relationships, monogamy, family, sex, marriage, death… it’s a fairly short book but it covers a lot of ground! And I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but the starting line is worth buying / renting it for alone:
“When I say that I was a feminist in kindergarten, even before the concept was known in my family, I am not exaggerating.”
The part that really jumped out for me though, was a discussion about the measuring of impact and the importance of making a difference to just one person’s life. Isabel runs a foundation with the mission statement “We invest in the power of women and girls to secure reproductive rights, economic independence and freedom from violence”. I didn’t realise when I bought the book, but I really needed to hear these messages.
There is talk of the moments where she feels disheartened and wonders if she is truly making any difference whatsoever, and she counters this by suggesting that this doubt is there to give us permission to walk away without even trying. This moment truly made me stop in my tracks. We can’t give up hope or stop trying to make a difference just because the challenge feels impossible or overwhelming. We absolutely have to keep being courageous and pushing through those barriers, in order to “exorcise the demon of indifference” (to steal Isabel’s perfect phrase).
The book was written in 2020, so it ends by talking about what type of world we want to inhabit and the importance of taking time to reflect on our values (those important mid and post Covid thoughts). It was a quick read, relative to my initial introduction to her writing, but it was just as significant for me and I would thoroughly recommend reading. If you’re local, I’m certain it will be finding its way into the Hub very soon – why not pop along and borrow it? I’d love to chat more about it with you, and you could even join our Snail Pace Book and Craft Club at the end of this month.
Isabel is described in the book cover as a novelist, feminist and philanthropist, as well as being one of the most widely read authors in the world - pretty amazing achievements, which make me feel a whole lot better about the doubt that creeps up on me at times. I would love to know if there are any other fans out there? The more I find out about this incredible author, the more I want to read all her books.
I seem to love leaving with a question, so here goes… which one should I start next?
Thank you so much for being here with us.
Lottie x
