Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power, Lola Olufemi
This book reads like a feminism-for-beginners manual: its ten chapters are parsed out the various intersecting issues that are affected by both the patriarchy and feminism, including the fight for reproductive justice, transphobia/transmisogyny, Islamophobia, sex work, and fatphobia (though she never uses that word). Olufemi explains a lot of basic ideas and pushes many idealized solutions, a world which, though I really would love to live in, just doesn’t seem to be within our grasp, now or in the future. However, her take on the world we are living in now is nothing but reality, and she connects all these seemingly diverse topics into one cohesive problem, showing how we are all connected in this increasingly globalized world, and how the patriarchy tricks us into thinking we are alone and our problems are individual. Her main argument is that fighting as a collective in solidarity is the only way to move forward, and she has never been more right.
The Hiding Place, Trezza Azzopardi
The Hiding Place is a devastating novel about a Maltese-Welsh family in 1960s Cardiff. It follows Frank as he immigrates from Malta and meets his wife Mary, as well as one of his first friends in Cardiff who is eventually the source of his downfall. More importantly, it focuses on the lives of the couple’s six daughters and is told from the perspective and “memories” of the youngest, Dol. Dol often remembers things that she is clearly too young to be able to remember, calling into question her narrative while also forcing readers to think about the memories one has versus the memories that are told to us and thus become like one’s memories. Dol and her sisters are witness to some frankly horrible things as they are growing up, things they don’t understand or reckon with until they are reunited at their mother’s funeral. In order to not reveal any spoilers, the only other thing I will say is that this is not a novel for the faint of heart. It is a devastating reminder that the world is not a bright place for all of us. At the same time though, it demonstrates, however faintly, that how we are raised is only part of our story—once we are adults, it’s up to us to make the best of it.