Books Archives - The F-Word

Movies never gave me a language, but they gave me a look

Alessia Galatini31 March 2020

Christina Newland’s collection of essays is a fun yet precise analysis of women discovering their sexualities through film...

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An investigation of desire

Katherine Tallent23 September 2019

Katherine Tallent reviews Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women and finds a compelling narrative, but also recognises the limitations of this much discussed bestseller...

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An eccentric and lingering snapshot of millennial womanhood

Sophie Whitehead30 August 2019

Sophie Whitehead reviews Livia Franchini’s debut novel, Shelf Life, and finds an evocative portrayal of a lonely life...

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Your summer reading list

Molly Greeves29 July 2019

Molly Greeves picks out her top suggestions for this summer’s poolside book haul...

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Gay love in Victorian Britain

Georgina Diaz11 July 2019

Georgina Diaz finds Outrages by Naomi Wolf a valuable read on the makings of modern homophobia despite recent questions regarding the accuracy of some of the author’s research ...

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Sex, smut and shape-shifting

Sophie Whitehead2 July 2019

Sophie Whitehead reviews Andrea Lawlor’s debut novel, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl and enjoys a dive into the queer worlds of the early 1990s...

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Comfort in silence? Clara Heathcock and Patrick Wray’s PERFORATED EARDRUM!!!

Victoria Bailey1 July 2019

When music critic and music lover Clara Heathcock perforated her eardrum it meant that she wasn’t able to listen to music. The experience led to a period of introspection and, ultimately, a book. Victoria Bailey is absorbed and impressed...

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Warmth, wit and ugliness

Emma Chan21 June 2019

Emma Chan reviews Juno Dawson’s latest novel, Meat Market...

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“I wanted to highlight how dangerous it is for any woman to give up her voice”: an interview with Louise O’Neill

Sophie Whitehead2 May 2019

Sophie Whitehead interviews author Louise O’Neill about her feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid, The Surface Breaks...

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“I wanted to feel seen” – An interview with Babs Tarr

Emily Zinkin9 April 2019

Babs Tarr is one of Emily Zinkin's favourite artists. When they were both at Thought Bubble she got the chance to interview her ...

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The violence in silence

Zoe Louise Tongue27 March 2019

Zoe Louise Tongue reviews The Anatomy of Silence, a collection of essays on experiences of rape and sexual violence, which explores the silence that still exists around rape culture even in the era of #MeToo ...

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Breaking the silence around menstruation

Jenna Kirby21 March 2019

Jenna Kirby considers the impact that a book like Natalie Byrne’s Period. could have on a reader’s relationship with their own body...

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“I really wanted my voice, a voice like my voice, to be heard”: Victoria Bailey meets Toria Garbutt

Victoria Bailey3 March 2019

Spoken word poet Toria Garbutt is a magnetic performer. Victoria Bailey saw her perform in Gateshead last year and was so impressed that she just had to interview her...

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Reporting on rape culture

Charlotte Barnes25 February 2019

Charlotte Barnes reads Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture – a collection of accounts of rape and sexual assault edited by Roxane Gay – and finds it painful and troubling but also timely and necessary...

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Why what we believe about women’s lust and infidelity is Untrue

Christina Carè28 January 2019

Christina Carè reviews Wednesday Martin's book Untrue and finds it an interesting - although occasionally jarring - delve into the history surrounding the (untrue) assertion that women are largely submissive, 'low-libido' beings ...

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Roxane Gay in conversation with Liv Little

Genevieve Richardson7 January 2019

Genevieve Richardson is blown away by writer Roxane Gay in conversation with gal-dem founder Liv Little...

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Flawed and fabulous women through time

Jessica Strange22 November 2018

Guided by iconic pioneers of the feminist movement, Jessica Strange learns a thing or two about living in a modern world by asking herself: What Would Boudicca Do?...

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Has science failed women?

Lucy Everitt20 November 2018

Lucy Everitt reviews Angela Saini’s book Inferior and finds it a fascinating critique of how science has consistently got women wrong through the ages – but is change finally in the air? ...

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