Reviews 2025 and articles following

December 31 – Fiction – Martin Edwards Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife, Alison Stockham Let Her Go.

Articles following: Cindy Lou; Women’s History Network – film, conference paper call; American Politics – Joyce Vance – Inherent Contempt, Steven Rattner –Trump’s Staggering Betrayal Of The Great American Project, More Kennedy Center Cancellations, The 5th Anniversary of January 6th, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Anthony Albanese – quotes and terms of Richardson Review, Paul Karp – Royal Commission.

December 24 – Non-Fiction – Kristen Lopez, Popcorn Disabilities, Joshua Stein The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The West Wing.

Articles following: Australian politics – Australian hearts are shattered…, thoughtful Facebook post, Anthony Albanese reaction; American Politics – The West Wing trending again; International Women’s Writing Online Conference; Excerpts from Dervla McTiernan’s email – more on her forthcoming book; Cindy Lou reviews.

December 17 – Non-Fiction – Stephen Rötzsch Thomas Disney’s Animated Classics A Comprehensive Guide, Margo Donohue Fever The Complete History of Saturday Night Fever; Fiction – Emily Bleeker Good Days Bad Days.

Articles following: American Politics – The Hoax of the Christmas Present, Medias, The outlines of a sustainable Ukraine peace deal inch into view, The need for serious people to lead a country; Australian Politics – Statement from the PM, Anthony Albanese condemns Bondi Beach terror attack as ‘act of evil antisemitism’, Aussies rush to give blood after horror of Bondi attacks, ‘Toughen these up’: PM flags law changes after Bondi, candles, flags, Annabel Crabb; Rabbi Jeff Kamins and Bilal Rauf, advisor to the Australian National Imams Council, embraced at the vigil;  7 of Rob Reiner’s Greatest Films.

December 10 – Non-Fiction – Taran Armstrong Behind the Mirror Inside the World of Big Brother, Jennifer O’Callaghan Rear Window The Making of a Hitchcock Masterpiece in the Hollywood Golden Age.

Articles following: Why Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’ Mirrors Today’s Social Media Age; ‘Don’t tell me!’ Why some people love spoilers – and others will run a mile; Cindy Lou Reviews; Twenty Books that Got Experts through their Twenties; American politics – The Supreme Court handed Republicans a shiny new map, but Texans aren’t dumb; misery, inflation, and desperation don’t vote red; they vote for whoever fixes their lives; Australian Politics – Australia’s social media ban for under-16s starts today. Here is what you should know, The Dismissal from below.

December 3 – Fiction – Ellie Levenson Room 706 ; Non- Fiction – Beth Reid Women in the Scottish Wars of Independence 1296–1357, Olapeju Simoyan Girls Become Doctors and Much More Inspiring Stories of Women in Medicine.

Articles following: American Politics – Bob McMullan – Trump’s Decline, Heather Cox-Richardson -consumer influence; Cindy Lou; Australian Politics – PM’s wedding, Labor Strikes deal on environment – Ronald Mizen, and Paul Bongiorno; Literature Cambridge – on-line courses; Dervla McTiernan – writing information; British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won Oscar for ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ dead at 88.

November 26 – Fiction – John Willingham, The Last Woman, SJ Bennett The Queen Who Came in from the Cold Book 2 of Her Majesty The Queen Investigates, Michelle Salter Murder in Trafalgar Square.

Articles following: Banijay U.K. Signs Development Deal With Ellie Wood’s Clearwood Films, Sets Adaptation of Barbara Pym Novel ‘Excellent Women’ as First Project; Barbara Pym’s Quartet in Autumn to be staged in 2026; Literature Cambridge; American Politics – The Gilded Age holds lessons for today, says Richard White, Senator Mark Kelly/Senator Lisa Murkowski; Australia and India formalise new screen partnerships, including major theatrical pathway for Australian films.

November 19 – Fiction – Valerie Keogh, His Other Woman; Non-Fiction – Keith Warren Lloyd The War Correspondents The Incredible Stories of the Brave Men and Women Who Covered the Fight Against Hitler’s Germany.

Articles Following: Set Menus On London Rooftops; Australian Politics -On November 11, 1975 I watched history being made, from the best seats in the house By Michelle Grattan From The Conversation, Craig Emerson – Conservative parties should not offer cover for racists, ‘Definitely positives and negatives’: Industry considers details of local content quota legislation: American Politics – Juliet Castille-Cooke, “Before going ballistic about the reopening agreement please read this”, Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American – Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa Cook and Mortgage; Cindy Lou; Cambridge Literature Courses; On Barbara Pym, Author… and Stalker?

November 12 – Non-Fiction – John Bassett, Rachel Crothers Broadway Innovator, Feminist Pioneer, Thomas P. Slaughter The Sewards of New York A Biography of a Leading American Political Family; Fiction – Dervla McTiernan, The Fireground.

Articles following: American Politics – Heather Cox Richardson- Zohran Mamdani’s speech, Abigail Spanberger’s speech, Nancy Pelosi Retires As The Most Important Woman In US Political History, Special Correspondent, Joanne Clark – further information on recent American elections, Raw Story – Voters are acting like they were scammed — they should know Trump wasn’t alone; Rebecca Melbourne Theatre Company; The Conversation – Jim Henson and The Muppets; Agatha Christie Newsletter excerpts.

November 5 – Fiction – Victoria Scott The House on the Cliff , Claire Allan People Don’t Just Disappear; Non- Fiction – Roxanne Gregory, A History of Women in Piracy Life under the Black Flag.

Articles following: Cindy Lou eats at several restaurants/cafes in Melbourne; National Gallery of Victoria Christian Dior Exhibition; American Politics – Democrat successes; British politics – Windrush, Rental housing; Australian Politics – Racial discrimination Act; Women and Literature.

October 29 – Non-Fiction – Lona Bailey Wicked Witch of the West The Enduring Legacy of a Feminist Icon, Edward Biddulph, The James Bond Lover’s Guide to Britain.

Following articles: Launch of ‘Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New’, PM Anthony Albanese speech; How the star of lost silent film Jewelled Nights went from the limelight to selling sweets for cinemagoers; American Politics- Why Trump Turned to the Sewer; Cindy Lou eats in Canberra and Melbourne; A Statue Of Bridget Jones Is Being Unveiled In Leicester Square Soon – As The Iconic Character Becomes The Latest Addition To London’s Free-To-Visit Sculpture Trail.

October 22 – Non- Fiction – Lisa Murkowski Far from Home An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, D.C., Brandon Rottinghaus Scandal Why Politicians Survive Controversy in a Partisan Era.

Articles following: Cindy Lou; American Politics – No Kings Marches; Australian Politics – PM at the White House; Song of Australia; Brilliant and Bold.

October 15 – Fiction – Samantha Vérant The Writers’ Retreat, Kelly Oliver, The Case of the Body on the Orient Express, Valerie Keogh, The Writer.

Articles following: More from – Yolŋu power: the art of Yirrkala exhibition; Thom Hartman -I just saw the movie that will define our age — you can tell because right-wingers hate it; American Politics – Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance; Joe biden’s Facebook Post – Gaza; National Film and Sound Archives.

October 8 – Non-Fiction – Danielle Leavitt, By the Second Spring Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine, Kimberly Heckler A Woman of Firsts Margaret Heckler.

Articles following: Inside Story, Zachary Gorman , Millicent Preston Stanley’s vocation; Jilly Cooper cutting the cake at the Pym Society 25th anniversary celebration in 2019; Art Gallery of New South Wales – Yolŋu power the art of Yirrkala; The Talented Mr Ripley; Ethical fiction : Essential? Desirable? Irrelevant? Robin Joyce.

October 1 – Fiction – Minka Kent, The Perfect Roommate, Mark Splitstone, Für Elise.

Articles following: British Politics – ‘Is feminism “back” at the Foreign Office?’, Tom Watson Newsletter – The Hack; Australian Politics – PM addresses UN on climate, global action and Security Council seat, Bob McMullan Senate seats and TEALs; Cindy Lou eats in Sydney.

September 24 – Fiction – Laura Lippman Murder Takes a Vacation A Mrs Blossom Mystery; Jane Corry The Stranger in Room Six; Andrew F. Gulli and Lamia J. Gulli (eds), Foreword by Alexander McCall Smith Best of “The Strand Magazine” 25 Years of Twists, Turns, and Tales from the Modern Masters of Mystery and Fiction.

Articles following: Australian Politics – John Hewson re Liberal Party, Chris Evans and forced labour, Katy Gallagher and climate change initiatives, cartoon – ABC journalist and Trump, Carrick Ryan article about meeting with Trump ; British Politics – chemical pollution of rivers; American Politics – Joyce Vance and Paper Clip Protest

September 17 – Fiction – Suzann Fortin The Codebreaker’s Daughter; Non-Fiction – Helene Harrison The Many Faces of Anne Boleyn Interpreting Image and Perception.

Articles following: Pen and Sword Publications – story of the company; Tracey Emin’s Largest-Ever Exhibition Is Landing In London Next Year; Steve Shirley countered sexism by founding her own company; Recollect – Bill and Bev Wood Exhibition; Heather Cox Richardson; Tom Wright – TROY ; Cindy Lou; Canberra Spring; Brilliant & Bold Leadership, Nepal, The Tyranny of Structurelessness; ‘Just doing his job’: Albanese government backs ABC reporter blasted by Trump.

September 10 – Fiction – Jane Caro Lyrebird; Amy Blumenfeld Such Good People.

Articles following: American politics – Joyce Vance, Heather Cox Richardson, A Mighty Girl – Ruby Bridges; British Politics – Tom Watson; Australian Politics – Dennis Glover: The seven lessons of Nazi history, Kath Mazzella OAM – Red Knickers Day; Paradise regained: the reopening of Simpson’s/Barbara Pym, A Glass of Blessings; Secret London – ancient bridge.

September 3 – Non-Fiction – Janet Few A History of Women’s Work The Evolution of Women’s Working Lives; Fiction – Kerry Fisher Whose Side Are You On?

Following: American and Australian political articles related to Labor Day and woman’s work ; Gynaecological health activities.

August 27 – Fiction – JB Miller, Duch; Marie Bostwick; The Book Club for Troublesome Women; Non- Fiction -Martina Devlin, Charlotte.

Following: The Life of Charlotte Brontë, Wikipedia; Natalie Oliver- The new battle of brothers: Prince William and Prince Harry and ‘upholding Diana’s true legacy’; 9 Books About Female Friendship in Every Decade of Life; American politics – Heather Cox Richardson, Alternet -MAGA is panicking as Trump finally meets his match | Opinion; Dervla McTiernan Newsletter; Women and Literature -Barbara Pym, The Sweet Dove Died; The Reality behind Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women: The Troublesome Woman Revealed (excerpt); Secret London – Little Paris.

August 20 – Non-Fiction – Aaron Poochigian Four Walks in Central Park A Poetic Guide to the Park; Dr Janet Smith Helen Taylor and Her Fight for the People Education Reformer, Feminist and Pioneer of the Labour Movement; Stephanie Kline Raising the Tudors Motherhood in Sixteenth-Century England.

Following: Canberra Writers Festival; Cindy Lou reviews; Legendary movie critic David Stratton dies; Australian Politics – Bob McMullan, Gough Whitlam and Vincent Lingiari make history; American Politics – What the 7 key swing states think of Trump after 200 days in office, Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American – redistricting, Alaska Meeting; Behind Gavin Newsome’s social media posts, Joyce Vance – Moving The Window; Mslexia Writing Competitions.

August 13 – Non-Fiction – Lauren O’Neill-Butler The War of Art A History of Artists’ Protest In America; Fiction – Rhys Bowen Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure ; Miranda Rijks You Can Trust Me.

Following: Canberra Art Exhibition- Bill and Bev Wood; NGA exhibitions; Australian Politics – Recognition of Palestinian State, Blocking social media to the kids will save us all, Tech giants fail to tackle heinous crimes against children, Paul Bongiorno Calls for justice in Gaza and progress on Closing the Gap, John Hewson – Albanese’s long game is paying off; American Politics – Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse, Rachel Maddow Shows Why No-One Should Cave To Trump’s Bogus Lawsuits; Australian music pioneer, Col Joye, dies; Sue Milliken named Cinema Pioneer of the Year; Could you write a story in 300 words?; The Conversation UK The Daily – Ukraine.

August 6 – Non-Fiction – Allison Tyra Uncredited Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work; Rose Neal,E.D.E.N. Southworth’s Hidden Hand The Untold Story of America’s Famous Forgotten Nineteenth-Century Author.

Following: Discover women’s history in your area: ‘You just have to start looking’; Jane Gardam; Literature Cambridge Online; American politics – An Assault on Truth – The Atlantic Daily, Robert Reich – DC insider won’t minimize Trump’s repugnance | Opinion; Canberra Writers Festival.

July 30 – Fiction – Penny Batchelor The Woman Next Door; Minka Kent The Memory Watcher.

Following: Australian politics; Secret London – romantic cities; Wes Anderson Exhibition; trip from Canberra to Port Macquarie; Secret London – Two Charming English Countryside Towns Are Finally Getting Train Stations Again – And They’re Perfect For A Weekend Escape From London.

July 23 – Non-Fiction – Emily Callaci Wages for Housework The Feminist Fight Against Unpaid Labor; Coreen Derifield We Were Still Ladies Gender and Industrial Unionism in the Midwest after World War II.

Following: National Gallery of Australia- exhibitions; Connie Francis was the voice of a generation and the soundtrack of post-war America; Made Up Stories, Kindling Pictures announce television adaptation of Sally Hepworth’s ‘The Soulmate’; Australian politics – Welcome back to Country: PM’s big statement as parliament opens; distribution of seats in the 48th parliament, Australia.

July 16 – Non-Fiction – Elizabeth Jenkins Jane Austen The Biography.

Following: Jane Austen related books reviewed in past blogs; Brilliant and Bold Presentations on Jane Austen; quotes from Jane Austen novels; Pride and Prejudice and voice over of the famous quote at the start of the novel; For Jane Austen and her heroines, walking was more than a pastime – it was a form of resistance; Beyond the bonnets: Jane Austen’s working women finally get their place in the spotlight; Why Jane Austen is definitely not only for Girls; Cindy Lou at Trev’s, Dickson; Bayeux Tapestry; British Politics – Keir Starmer has time to turn this around; Docu-drama: This England; The Prime Ministers We Never Had: Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn; Corbyn and new party? American politics – Jess Piper, The Epstein Files Fallout will not Touch Him.

July 9 – Fiction – Claire Allan The Perfect Mother; Danit Brown Television for Women.

Following: NGA Exhibition; Ken Burns, The American Revolution; Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse; Heather Cox Richardson; Liberals, Conservatives, And Independents Form Initiative To Fight For Democracy And Freedom; Successful policies -British Politics; Politics Essential- new British Party?; ACT chooses ‘care over cruelty’ by raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14; Record number of Indigenous students graduate but education gap remains; Anthony Albanese to champion ‘Australian independence’ within US alliance; Cindy Lou; Ida Leeson, Mitchell Librarian.

July 2 – Non-Fiction – Katrina Lockwood The Mystery of Isabella and the String of Beads A Woman Doctor In World War 1; Dr Christopher Herbert Jane Austen’s Favourite Brother, Henry.

Following: Australian classic My Brilliant Career gets a Netflix remake; Joyce Vance from Civil Discourse;The Stepford Supporters: Inside MAGA’s scripted response to literally everything; Secret London; Cindy Lou; For Jane Austen and her heroines, walking was more than a pastime – it was a form of resistance; 2025 Canberra Writers Festival Schools Day!.

June 25 – Non-Fiction – Man Who Has It All Flipping Patriarchy Imagining a gender-swapped world ; Fiction – Julie Ann Sipos Horrible Women, Wonderful Girls A Jaycee Grayson Novel.

Following: Women’s History Network 33rd Annual Conference; The inner voice of women’s self-loathing; The Racial Discrimination Act at 50: the bumpy, years-long journey to Australia’s first human rights laws; Digital News Report: Australia 2025 University of Canberra’s News and Media; Research Centre; Why we still need a women’s prize for fiction; In ‘Not My Type,’ E. Jean Carroll Gets the Last Gab About the Trump Trials; How did my MP vote on assisted dying?; Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American; sunset photos Canberra. 

June 18 – Non-Fiction – Joanna Hagan Friends and the Golden Age of the Sitcom; Tim Waggoner Just Add Writer A Complete Guide to Writing Tie-ins and IP.

Following: The Aussie writer’s festival putting women’s stories first; Sculpture celebrating First Nations women; Celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books; Photojournalism Exhibition in London; Dervla McTiernan Email; American Politics – Jon Meacham quote, Meanwhile in America, No Kings, Civil Discourse.

June 11 – Non-Fiction – Kerrie Davies Miles Franklin Undercover The little-known years when she created her own brilliant career.

Following: Kerrie Davies – Miles Franklin’s other career; Alice McVeigh at the London Book Fair; American Politics – Heather Cox Richardson; Brilliant & Bold!- political changes; Reform leads in voting intentions – but where does their vote come from?*; How young voters helped to put Trump in the White House; Secret London – Lavender Garden, Bookbar, Notting Hill houses; Sara Paretsky.

June 4 – Non-Fiction – Todd Almond Slow Train Coming Bob Dylan’s Girl from the North Country and Broadway’s Rebirth; Derek Ronald Birks A Guide to the Wars of the Roses.

Following: Australian Politics – Laura Tingle; Graeme Orr, The Conversation discusses Bradfield; American Politics – Jess Piper, Rachel Maddow; Correcting the record: Marcia Langton believes a new exhibition will change the way people see Indigenous art; Hedgehog in Wallingford.

May 28 – Fiction – Maya Golden Bethany The Senator; Priscilla Masters Bloodline.

Following: Special Correspondent: a book picked up during the journey – Sheila O’Flanagan, Jane Gardam and Zoe Fairbairns; Women’s History Network News, including reference to Helen Lewis, Difficult Women; Australian Politics; American Politics; Mindy Wood (Master Chef etc., another accolade; Cindy Lou; The West Wing – nostalgia.

May 21 – Fiction – Alafair Burke The Note; Lisa Jackson It Happened on the Lake.

Following: Australian Politics; American Politics; Special Correspondent- Perth to Canberra; Autumn in Canberra.

May 14 – Non fiction – Catherine Curzon The Royal Family vs ‘The Crown’ Separating Fact from Fiction; Fiction – Elaine Insinnia You Go, Girl!

Following: Cindy Lou; Australian Politics; American Politics; Special Correspondent; Changing seasons – photos; Romantic fiction makes a comeback; Remembering radical femmes who revealed inconvenient truths.

May 6 – Fiction – Dervla McTiernan The Unquiet Grave Book 4 of The Cormac Reilly Series ; Cristina Wolf How To Write A Rom-Com.

Following: Jane Gardam dies; Australian Federal Election; photos from Polling Places around Australia; articles about the election from America and Australia; Jocelynne Scutt – Brilliant & Bold!; Special Correspondent.

April 30 – Non-Fiction – Barbara Kingsolver Holding the Line Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike; Donna Leon, Backstage Stories of a Writing Life. Non-Fiction – A repeat of my review of Kelly Hyman’s Build Back Better. The First 100 Days of the Biden Administration, and Beyond.

Following: 100 Days of the Trump Presidency; realclear polling; Build Back Better; Heather Cox Richardson -Women’s work – historical insight into industrial relations: Frances Perkins; Mighty Girl Post; Western Australian Museum Kimberly Virtual Reality Exhibition; James Street Technical College; Heathcote Arts Centre; Return to Canberra; Australian Politics.

April 23 – Fiction/non-fiction – Tasma Walton I am Nannertgarrook.

Following: Free TAFE and indigenous enrolment; Beach Sculptures, Fremantle; Beach scenes; Wellington Dam and mural; Collie Murals; Kalgulup Regional Park, Bunbury; Two maidens walk and Indigenous use of local foliage; Cindy Lou eats out in Fremantle, Bunbury, and Perth; Art Gallery Bunbury – Indigenous art exhibition; Jodie D’Arcy photograph; Heather Cox Richardson; and Joyce Vance.

April 16 – Fiction – Scott Turow Presumed Guilty; Gordon d’ Venables Hunted.

Following: Joyce Vance; Five Questions with Olivia Troye; Bendigo Art Gallery-Frida Kahlo: In her own image; Women and Reading; Literary hub article; Babe at 30: Why this much-loved Australian film is one of the best cinematic adaptation of a children’s book; Special Correspondent travelling from Canberra to Perth; Cindy Lou enjoys some casual meals in Western Australia – Midland and Fremantle.

April 9 – Fiction – Marie Bostwick The Book Club for Troublesome Women; Non-Fiction – N.J. Mastro Solitary Walker A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Following: Bob McMullan Some thoughts on the recent WA election; Heather Cox Richardson – Cory Booker; Hillary Clinton; Joyce Vance – demonstrations; AI and Literature; Ted Kotcheff On Wake in Fright; Queanbeyan’s Sleep Bus; Secret London; Henry Oliver – Jane Austen; Robin R. Joyce – Jane Austen Was She a Troublesome Writer?

April 2 – Fiction – Bonnie Garmus – Lessons in Chemistry.

Following: Barbara Pym; Katty Kay; A Quiet Social Historian; Faux Masterpieces; Literature Cambridge; The Female Quotient; Australian Politics – election May 3; British Politics – Rachel Reeves, David Blunkett; American Politics – Sarah Reid, Signal Convesation, Americans Against The Republican Party, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez; Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Florida special elections; Cindy Lou; Feminist Films??

March 26 – Fiction– Jackie French The Whisperer’s War; Non-Fiction – Susan Smocer Platt Love, Politics, and Other Scary Things A Memoir.

After the reviews: Despite some key milestones since 2000, Australia still has a long way to go on gender equality; Wage Rage for Equal Pay – new publication from Jocelynne A. Scutt; Jenny Hocking on the Abby Chatfield Interview with PM Anothy Albanese – The good, the bad and the downright ugly: Our media is broken; Heather Cox Richardson – Elon Musk’s use of the phrase, NPC’s; Molly Wadzeck Kraus – What ‘Harriet The Spy’ Taught Me And Other Millennials Who Could Not Be Silenced; Special correspondent travelling from Canberra to Perth; Cindy Lou; Alex Ritman – Banijay U.K. Signs Development Deal With Ellie Wood’s Clearwood Films, Sets Adaptation of Barbara Pym Novel ‘Excellent Women’ as First Project; Maud Page becomes first woman to be appointed director of Art Gallery of New South Wales.

March 19 – Fiction – Sue Watson Wife, Mother, Liar.

After the review: What ‘Elsbeth’ Taught Me About Friendship; Cézanne to Giacometti; Highlights from Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie; ‘A Revolution in March 11the Nursery’: Celebrating 80 Years of Pippi Longstocking; American Politics – Joyce Vance , Axios, Heather Cox Richardson; The Unliterary Eighteenth Century: Gender and Marginal Texts; Barbie -tennis greats; Amanda Gorman; Is reality TV ‘harmful’? We asked 5 experts – including an ex-reality TV participant; Special Correspondent Travelling from Canberra to Perth.

March 12 – Fiction – Victoria Scott The Storyteller’s Daughter; Non-Fiction – Take Up Space The Unprecedented AOC.

After the review: International Women’s Day – quotes; Havenist – women architects; The Atlantic Daily – DEI; Grieving on International Women’s Day The Daily with Sarah Jones; Fighting Trump Requires Focus. Democrats Didn’t Show It; Labor Win in WA.

March 5 – Non-Fiction – Jodi Bondi Norgaard More Than a Doll How Creating a Sports Doll Turned into a Fight to End Gender Stereotypes.

After the review: Heather Cox Richardson- a peaceful healthy world that has allowed the seeds of destruction to flourish; Raw Story – female astronomer; Lost Ladies Who Feel Extra Relevant Right Now; The Last Showgirl: Pamela Anderson is perfectly cast in this intimate portrait of womanhood; Cindy Lou eats out in Sydney; Belvoir Theatre – Song of First Desire; Special Correspondent driving from Canberra to Perth; Joyce Vance – comment on State of the Union Address.

February 26 – Non-Fiction – Rebecca Wilson Georgian Feminists Ten 18th Century Women Ahead of their Time.

Following the book review: Cindy Lou; American politics – Bob McMullan – USAID, Joyce Vance- being in community, Heather Cox Richardson – sea change; in American and global history; Kamala Harris, Atlantic Daily – Donald Trump and Elon Musk – free speech; and Australian politics – international, national and ACT local.

February 19 – Non-Fiction – Sara Lodge The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective.

After the review; Crime on Her Mind; A Modern Television Female Detective; The Conversation – Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter; Literature Cambridge; and Civil Discourse, Joyce Vance.

February 12 – Fiction – S.E. Lynes The Perfect Boyfriend ; Wendy Clarke Make Yourself at Home.

After the reviews: Cindy Lou eats at Courgette and Kopiku; American Politics – fighting back; Secret London; NGA – Ethel Carrick.

February 5 – Non-Fiction – Kimberly Heckler A Woman of Firsts Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer.

After the book review: Francoise Sagan – The Four Corners of the Heart and article about her and her first novel; Women’s History Network – conferences, call for papers, events and exhibitions; ‘Bright Circle’ illuminates the role of women in the American intellectual tradition; Bob McMullan, Australian Electoral Prospects; Heather Cox Richardson; Joyce Vance; National Gallery of Australia.

January 29 – Non- Fiction – Caroline Angus Planning the Murder of Anne Boleyn; Joseph McBride George Cukor’s People Acting for a Master Director.

After the reviews: Bob McMullan – How the States Vote; Australian of the Year; Cindy Lou eats in Canberra; Tom Nichols, The Atlantic Daily, Night at Camp David; The New Statesman – three comments on American politics; Jess Piper Commentary; Heather Cox Richardson; Vamp by Stephanie Wood.

January 22 – Fiction – Jane A. Adams Cold Bones; Non-Fiction – Sue Wilkes, Young Workers of the Industrial Age Child Labour in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

After the reviews: Ghosts to be made in Western Australia; the British version of Ghosts; Cindy Lou at 86 North and Cafe Cultura; Civil Discourse – Joyce Vance; An encore performance for ‘Miss Pym’; The Reality behind Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women The Troublesome Woman Revealed, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023 – excerpt re comedy in Pym; ICYMI: Martin Luther King III Says His Father Would Be ‘Quite Disappointed’ With The Current World; On the third Monday of each January, Americans honor the memory of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, who advocated for social change through non-violent means; Kamala Harris and Joe Biden quotes on MLK Day; Civil Discourse, short excerpts; Michelle Obama on MLK Day.

January 15 – Fiction – Nicci French – The Last Days of Kira Mullan.

After the book review: Brief discussion of two books making a similar point on the way in which accusations of poor mental health can be used to diminish women’s autonomy – The Yellow Wallpaper and The Little House; Ethel Carrick | Anne Dangar at the NGA; American Politics: Joyce Vance, The Atlantic – Trump’s Sentencing Made No One Happy, Andrew Weissman’s podcast, Liz Cheney’s opinion; London Activities in January.

January 8 – Non-Fiction – Elie Mystal Bad Law Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America.

Following articles: Louisa Anne Meredith; American Politics – The Daily -humorous quote, Raw Story articles -Jack Smith Report, Washington Post cartoon; The Danger of Miseducation, Jess Piper.

January 1 – Non-Fiction – Angela Youngman The Dark Side of Jane Austen’s World; Sarah C. Williams When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women.

After the reviews: comment on fictional account related to the Contagious Disease Act; Singapore stopover; four days at the south coast; Are Young Men Really Becoming More Sexist?; Jimmy Carter; Portia Zvavahera Art Exhibition, Cambridge; Cambridge walk; Plays between air raids and songs in shelters: How cultural life is thriving in wartime Ukraine.

Reviews 2024

December 25 – Fiction – Diana Wilkinson The Girl in the Window.

After the review: Gender Institute event; John Marsden – obituary and commentary on the two schools he founded; Cindy Lou eats in Canberra and Cambridge; American Cable Television suffers after the Presidential Election; Cambridge – Castle Mound; Cambridge Black Creatives Art Exhibition.

December 18 – Non-Fiction – Margaret Ann Spence Cold War in a Hot Kitchen.

December 11 – Fiction – Minette Walters The Players; Ava Glass – The Chase, The Traitor and The Trap.

December 4 – Non-Fiction – Dava Sobel The Elements of Marie Curie How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science; Barbara Kingsolver, Holding the Line Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike.

November 27 – Non-Fiction – Charlotte Booth and Brian Billington The Crime Movie and TV Lover’s Guide to London.

November 20 – Non-Fiction – Carol Ann Lloyd Courting the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I And Her Suitors; Fiction – Valerie Keogh The Wives.

November 13 – Non-Fiction – Marc Wanamaker and Steven Bingen Hollywood Behind the Lens Treasures from the Bison Archives.

October 30 – Non-Fiction – Lidia LoPinto and Winnie LoPinto I Was a Woman Pilot in 1945 Women Airforce Training Pilots.

October 23 – Non-Fiction – Joel Brokaw – Foreword by David Geffen Driving Marilyn Life and Times of Legendary Hollywood Agent Norman Brokaw 

October 16 – Non-Fiction – Anton Rippon, Nicola Rippon Wartime Entertainment How Britain Kept Smiling Through the Second World War.

October 9 – Fiction – Jane Loeb Rubin Threadbare.

October 2 – Fiction – Emily Bleeker When We Chased the Light; Alison James Just the Nicest Family.

September 25 – Fiction – Elizabeth Strout Tell Me Everything.

September 18 – Non-Fiction – Marjorie Garber Shakespeare in Bloomsbury; C D Peterson The American Homefront During WWII Blackouts, Ration-books and Rosie the Riveter.

September 11 – Non-Fiction – J. E. Smyth Mary C. McCall Jr. The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Most Powerful Screenwriter.

September 4 – Non-Fiction – Douglas Beattie How Labour Wins (And Why It Loses) From 1900 to 2024; Corrina Antrobus I Love Romcoms and I am a Feminist A manifesto in 100 romcoms.

August 28 – Non-Fiction – Joshua Stein – The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The West Wing Seasons One and Two.

August 21 – Fiction – Linda Epstein; Ally Malinenko; Liz Parker The Other March Sisters.

August 14 – Fiction – Donna Leon A Refiner’s Fire, A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery.

August 7 – Fiction – Laura Katz Olsen Wrinkled Rebels.

July 31 – Fiction – Jackson Our Little Secret; Sue Watson You, Me, Her.

July 24 –Fiction – Valerie Keogh – The Mother.

July 17 – Fiction – Kristy Cambron –The British Booksellers.

July 10 – Non- Fiction – Various Agatha Christie books., including material related to the 11 days she was missing.

July 3 – Fiction – Maryann D’Agincourt, Glimpses of Gauguin; Isabel Allende Lovers at the Museum.

June 26- Non-Fiction -Toby Manning Mixing Pop and Politics, A Marxist History of Popular Music; Fiction – Kate Galley Old Girls Behaving Badly.

June 12 – Non-Fiction – Paul Kahan Philadelphia.

June 19 – Fiction – Enid Blyton – Sea of Adventure.

June 5 – Non-Fiction – Jane Woolerton – The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr What Really Happened to Henry VIII’s Last Queen? ; Zöe Wheddon Jane Austen: Daddy’s Girl, The Life and Influence of The Revd George Austen.

May 29 – Fiction -Priscilla Masters The Quiet Woman; Non-Fiction – Mimi Zieman, MD Tap Dancing on Everest A Young Doctor’s Unlikely Adventure.

May 22 – Non-Fiction – Hannah McGregor Clever Girl, Jurassic Park; Monica Porter A History of Europe in 12 Cafes.

May 15 – Fiction – Freida McFadden One by One; Non-Fiction – Ruth Cashin Monsell, Frances Perkins Champion of American Workers.

May 8 – Fiction – Kerry Fisher Escape to the Rome Apartment; Kerry Wilkinson The Call.

May 1- Non-Fiction – Linda Stewart Henley Kate’s War; Charlotte Booth Tourism in Egypt Through the Ages.

April 24 – Non- Fiction – Malcolm Hislop A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England; Susan Tate Ankeny American Flygirl .

April 17 – Non-Fiction – Scott Ryan The Last Decade of Cinema.

April 10 – Non-Fiction – Melissa Clark Bacon Through Her Lens; Fiction – Louise Milligan Pheasants Nest.

April 3 – Non-Fiction – Jonathan Cott Let Me Take You Down Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever; Fiction – Miranda Rijks The Godchild.

March 27 – Fiction – Jackie French The Sea Captain’s Wife; Miranda Rijks Make Her Pay.

March 20 – Non-Fiction – Rosemary Hennessy In the Company of Radical Women Writers.

March 13 – Fiction – Kathy Lette The Revenge Club.

March 6 – Non-Fiction – Holly Swinyard  Fans and Fandom, A Journey into the Passion and Power of Fan Culture; Kathleen Kuiper From the Mid-1900s to the Late 1900s (Part of History’s Most Influential Women).

February 28 – Fiction – C.L. Taylor – Every Move You Make; Valerie Keogh – The Mistress.

February 21 – Fiction – Clare Flynn – The Artist’s Wife; Non-Fiction – Justine Picardie Miss Dior.

February 14 – Fiction – Dervla McTiernan What Happened to Nina?

February 7 – Fiction – Clare Flynn – The Artist’s Apprentice; Non-Fiction – Rebecca Wilson – Tudor Feminists Ten Renaissance Women Ahead of Their Time,

January 31 – Non-Fiction – Ramie Targoff – Shakespeare’s Sisters Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance.

January 24 – Non-Fiction – Kathryn Atherton Mary Neal and the Suffragettes Who Saved Morris Dancing.

January 17 – Non-Fiction – Scott Martelle 1932 FDR, Hoover and the Dawn of a New America.

January 10 – Fiction – BookTrib BookTrib Lit Picks First Chapters from the Hottest Books.

January 3 – Non- Fiction – Jane Austen Jane Austen’s The History of England Writings from Her Youth; Fiction – Katia Lief Invisible Woman .

Reviews 2023

December 27 – Fiction – Karen Brooks The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson; Kerry Wilkinson After the Sleepover.

December 20 – Non-Fiction – Ines Almeida, Georgina Ferry, Bridget Greenwood, 50 Women in Technology Pioneers and Trailblazers in STEM.

December 13 – Fiction – Amanda Prowse Swimming to Lundy; Kerry Wilkinson The Ones Who Are Hidden; brief comments on L.M. Montogomery novels, The Secret Garden.

December 6 – Fiction – Liz Foster The Good Woman’s Guide to Making Better Choices.

November 29 – Non-Fiction – Sharon Grace Powers How Broadway Works Building and Running a Show from the People Who Make It Happen.

November 22 – Non-Fiction – Catherine Russell The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck.

November 15 – Non-Fiction

November 8 – Fiction – Sophie Hannah Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night The New Hercule Poirot Mystery.

November 1 – Fiction – Heather Webb – The Queens of London.

October 26 – Non- Fiction – Referred to in this post – John Callow The Last Witches of England A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition (note, full review appears on December 15, 2021).

October 19 – Non-Fiction -Sidney Holt (ed.)- American Magazine Writing.

October 5 – Fiction – Virginia Pye – The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann; Non-Fiction – Excerpt from The Reality Behind Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women: The Troublesome Woman Revealed, Robin R. Joyce, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023.

September 29 – Fiction – Comments on: Valerie Keogh’s The Trophy Wife,

The Lawyer, The Librarian and The Housewife; Clare Chambers’ Back Trouble and Small Pleasures.

September 20 – Non- Fiction – Gary Scott Smith Do All the Good You Can How Faith Shaped Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Politics.

September 13 – Fiction – Agatha Christie – comments on several novels.

September 9 – Fiction – Barbara Pym – comments on several novels.

August 30 – Non-Fiction – Eliot A. Cohen The Hollow Crown Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall.

August 16 – Fiction – Kerry Fisher – The Rome Apartment; Secrets at the Rome Apartment.

August 8 – Non- Fiction – Hanna Flint – Strong Female Character.

August 3 – Fiction – Kerry Wilkinson – Those Who Are Buried; Non-Fiction – Jeff Apted – Keith Urban.

July 26 – Fiction – Louise Doughty – A Bird in Winter.

July 19 – Fiction – Louise Doughty – Apple Tree Yard.

July 12 – Non-Fiction – Beverley Adams – The Forgotten Tudor Royal Margaret Douglas, Grandmother to King James VI & I.

July 5 – Fiction – Alice McDermott – Absolution.

June 28 – Non-Fiction – Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar – America’s Black Capital How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy.

June 21 – Fiction – K.L. Slater – The Bedroom Window.

June 14 – Fiction – Rob Wills – Plague Searchers Vols 1 and 11.

June 8 – Fiction – Anna Stuart – The Bletchley Girls; Françoise Sagan – The Four Corners of the Heart An Unfinished Novel.

May 31 – Fiction – Kerry Wilkinson – The One Who Was Taken.

May 23 – Fiction – Victoria Jenkins – Happily Married.

May 16 – Non-Fiction – Leigh Gilmore – The #MeToo Effect What Happens When We Believe Women.

May 10 – Fiction – Ayesha Inoon – Untethered.

May 3 – Fiction – Kerry Wilkinson The One Who Fell.

April 26 – Fiction – Kathy George – Estella.

April 19 – Fiction – Victoria Scott The Women Who Wouldn’t Leave; Miranda Rijks The Other Mother; Valerie Keogh The Librarian.

April 12 – Non-Fiction – Janet Malcolm Still Pictures On Photography and Memory.

April 5 – Non-Fiction – Suzanne Ferriss Lost in Translation.

March 29 – Fiction – Beverley Adams – Ada Lovelace The World’s First Computer Programmer

March 21 – Non-Fiction – Carolyn Purnell Blue Jeans.

March 14 – Non-Fiction – Neil Buttery Before Mrs Beeton Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper.

March 8 – Non-Fiction – Regan Penaluna How to Think Like a Woman Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind

March 1 – Fiction – Liz Nugent Strange Sally Diamond.

February 22- Fiction – Tracey Enerson Wood The President’s Wife; Non- Fiction – Charlotte Booth The Movie Lover’s Guide to London.

February 15 – Non-Fiction – Kevin Landis One Public New York’s Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis

February 8 – Non-Fiction – Michele Moody-Adams Making Space for Justice Social Movements, Collective Imagination, and Political Hope.

February 1 – Non-Fiction – Kathy Kompare and Stephanie Johnson True Tales of TWA Flight Attendants; Elizabeth Cobbs Fearless Women. From Abigail Adams to Beyonce.

January 25 – Non-Fiction – Michelle McSweeney – OK

January 11 – Fiction – Louise Candlish The Only Suspect

January 4 – Fiction – K.L. Slater –The Narrator

Reviews 2022

December 21 – Fiction – Amanda Prowse Picking Up the Pieces.

December 14 – Non-Fiction – Anastasia C. Curwood Shirley Chisholm Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics; Fiction – Miranda Rijks, The Concierge.

December 7- Fiction – Barbara Kingsolver – Demon Copperhead.

November 30 – Non-Fiction – Maria Teresa Hart Doll  

November 23 – Non-Fiction – Steve Baltin Anthems We Love 29 Iconic Artists on the Hit Songs That Shaped Our Lives.

November 16 – Fiction – Amanda DuBois Deliver Them from Evil.

October 26 – Fiction – Louise Douglas The Lost Notebook and Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke Forever Hold your Peace.

October 19 – Non-Fiction – Peter J. Leithart, Jane Austen A Literary Celebrity and Fiction – Marple: Twelve New Stories by Agatha Christie, Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse and Ruth Ware.

October 12 – Fiction – Nicola West – Catch Us The Foxes; and Tricia Stringer – Keeping up Appearances.

October 5 – Non-Fiction – Michael Greaney – An A-Z of Jane Austen; Fiction – Claire McGowan – I Know You.

September 28 – Non-Fiction – Paul Kendall Queen Elizabeth I Life and Legacy of the Virgin Queen.

September 21 – Fiction – Louise Candlish The Heights; Carol Mason, between you and me, and Jane Isaacs, One Good Lie.

September 14 – Fiction – Lisa Jewell’s Invisible Girl; Non-fiction – Changing Roles Women After the Great War, Dr Vivien Newman.

September 7 – Fiction – Scott Turow Suspect.

August 31 – Non-Fiction – Sarah Milne The Book Lover’s Guide to London; Fiction – Emily Bleeker What’s Left Unsaid.

August 24 – Fiction – Amanda Du Bois The Complication; Jane Cockram The Way From Here.

August 17 – Fiction – Maryann D’Agincourt Marriage of the Smila-Hoffmans.

August 10 – Fiction – Jane Adams Murder On Sea; Leah Mercer Why She Left.

August 3 – Non-Fiction – Robert S McElvaine The Times They Were a-Changin’ 1964, the Year the Sixties Arrived and the Battle Lines of Today Were Drawn; Fiction – Miranda Rijks The Second Wife.

July 27 – Non-Fiction -James Chapman Dr. No The First James Bond Film; Fiction – Miranda Rijks What She Knew.

July 20 – Non- Fiction – Daniel Talbot In Love With Movies; George Thomas Clark They Make Movies.

July 13 – Fiction – Maggie Smith Truth and Other Lies; Non- Fiction – Kathryn Warner London, A Fourteenth-Century City and its People.

July 6- Fiction – Ruth Ware The It Girl.

June 29 – Non-Fiction – Dr Vivien Newman Changing Roles Women After the Great War.

June 22 – Fiction – Alafair Burke The Girl She Was; C.L. Taylor The Guilty Couple; Jane Corry We All Have Our Secrets.

June 15 – Fiction – Victoria Scott Grace; Non-Fiction – Jenny Main Ethel Gordon Fenwick Nursing Reformer and the First Registered Nurse.

June 8 – Fiction – Carlene Bauer Girls They Write Songs About

June 1 – Fiction – Andrea Carter The Body Falls; Jane A. Adams The Girl in the Yellow Dress.

May 25 – Fiction – Minka Kemp – The Unmissing.

May 18 – Non- Fiction – Marc Shapiro Beatle Wives The Women the Men We Loved Fell in Love With; Fiction – Joan Long The Finalist

May 11 – Non-Fiction – Helen Lewis Difficult Women A History of Feminism in 11 Fights

May 4 – Fiction – C.L. Taylor The Guilty Couple

April 27 – Fiction – Judy Haydock The Lives of Diamond Bessie

April 20 – Fiction – Robbi Neal The Secret World of Connie Starr.

April 13 – Non-Fiction – Matthew Green Shadowlands A Journey Through Lost Britain.

April 6 – Fiction – Barbara Pym A Few Green Leaves. See also article about She I Dare Not Name: A Spinster’s Meditations on Life by Donna Ward.

March 30 – Fiction – Donna Leon Give unto Others; Non-Fiction – Sharon Wright Mother of the Brontës 200^th Anniversary Edition.

March 23 – Non-Fiction – Alison Ripley Cubitt Misadventures in the Screen Trade; Douglas Burgess – When Hope and History Rhyme Natural Law and Human Rights from Ancient Greece to Modern America.

March 16 – Fiction – Lisa Unger Last Girl Ghosted; Trudy Krisher On the March: A Novel of the Women’s March on Washington.

March 9 – Non-Fiction – Lisa Z. Lindahl Unleash the Girls The Untold Story of the Invention of the Sports Bra and How It Changed the World (And Me).

March 2 – Non-Fiction – Hermione Lee – Tom Stoppard A Life and Kathryn Bridge ed. Unvarnished by Emily Carr.

February 23: Fiction – Clare Chambers The Editor’s Wife; Non-Fiction – Sian Lye The Architecture Lover’s Guide to London

February 16: Non-Fiction – The Editors of New York Magazine Take Up Space The Unprecedented AOC; Nan Sloane Uncontrollable Women Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries .

February 9: Fiction – Jane A. Adams Bright Young Things; M B Henry All the Lights Above Us.

February 2: Fiction – David Guterson, The Final Case; Minka Kent- The Watcher Girl.

January 26: Fiction – Elizabeth Strout, Oh William! Non-Fiction – Erin M. Pushman, How to Read Like a Writer 10 Lessons to Elevate Your Reading and Writing Practice; Burton I. Kaufman, Barack Obama Conservative, Pragmatist, Progressive.

January 19: Non-Fiction – Michael Kazin, What It Took to Win A History of the Democratic Party.

January 12: Fiction – Liz Byrski, At the End of the Day; Jane Cockram The Way From Here.

January 5: Non-Fiction -Maia Weinstock, Carbon Queen The Remarkable life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus; Elisabeth Galvin, The Real Kenneth Grahame The Tragedy Behind The Wind in the Willows.

Reviews 2021

December 29: Non-Fiction – Rosemary Griggs’ A Woman of Noble Wit; Fiction -Ilsa Evans, The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer, Miranda Rijks What She Knew.

December 22: Non-Fiction – Christian Lamb, Beyond the Sea A Wren at War; John Marsden, Take Risks; and Elie Mystal Allow Me to Retort A Black Guy’s Guide to The Constitution; Fiction – Kathleen McGurl’s The Girl from Bletchley Park.

December 15: Non-Fiction – John Callow: The Last Witches of England A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition; Fiction – Liane Moriarty: Apples Never Fall

December 8: Non-Fiction – Fiona Hill There Is Nothing For You Here Finding Opportunity In The 21st Century

December 1: Non-Fiction – Beverley Adams: The Rebel Suffragette; Galia Gichon – The Accidental Suffragist

November 24: Non-Fiction – Robin Fields: “I Love My Air Fryer” 5 – Ingredient Recipe Book, From French Toast Sticks to Buttermilk Chicken Thighs, 175 Quick and Easy Recipes

November 17: Non-Fiction – John Lewis: The Last Interview and Other Conversations, Melville House, 2021.

November 10: Non-Fiction – Clive Aslet, The Story of the Country House ; Fiction – Alice McVeigh, Susan, A Jane Austen Prequel

November 3: Non-Fiction – Dr John Gayner A Doctor For All Seasons .

October 27: Non-Fiction– Henry Hoke Stickers; Sydney Thorne Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism

October 20: Fiction – Robyn Harding The Perfect Family ; Suzanne McCourt The Tulip Tree

October 13: Non-Fiction – Einav Rabinovitch-Fox Dressed for Freedom The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism

October 6: Non-Fiction – Ian Nathan, The Coppolas A Movie Dynasty

September 29: Fiction – Emma Curtis, Invite Me In; Maryann D’Agincourt, August.

September 22: Non-Fiction – Claudia Clark, Dear Barack; Fiction – Marge Piercy, Fly Away Home.

September 15: Non-Fiction – Leslie Kern, Feminist City.

14 October: Fiction – Meg Wolitzer, The Wife.

9 October – Non Fiction – Heath Hardage, Lee Winnie Davis Daughter of the Lost Cause; Blain Roberts, Pageants, Parlors and Pretty Women, Race and Beauty; Kate Cote Gillin, Shrill Harrahs , Gender, Racial Violence in South Carolina.