Still Time for Butterflies

15 novels.

3 short stories.

2 plays.

I’m starting to form the outline for my selection criteria. While I started my reading with a sketchy criteria already in place (i.e. stories written by women, strong female lead characters, identifiable moments of leadership, etc…), I decided not to stifle the wide array of options before getting a feel for what was available. Unlike Badaracco who chose ‘serious’ literature based on two rough tests: The “test of time,” are they classics?, and the test of “careful reading,” that is, do they have depth and richness? I always knew I wanted my selection to extend beyond ‘classics.’ I’ve scoured lists like:

• 75 Books Every Women Should Read: The Complete List
• Are these the 50 most influential books by women?
• 21^st Century Literature by Women
• 21 Books from the last 5 years that every woman should read
• The life-changing novels every woman should read
• Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction
• The Norton Anthology of Women’s Literature
• 100 Great Plays for Women
• Women's Fiction: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests
• Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel
• Etc...!

But now, having read at least 20 pieces of women’s literature (most of which would classify, however subtly, as ‘feminist fiction’) and poured over summaries for over 50, the process itself has naturally brought forth a set of additional (unifying) criteria. I will outline them briefly here:

• Well-reviewed, award-winning literature. Now, when I began this project, I wasn’t being very fussy about reviews or literary critiques…but, after reading a couple of popular fiction pieces which would never ever make it onto any classics list, I’ve refined my selection to books which have received some recognition from the ‘powers that be.’ Essentially, Badaracco’s ‘depth & richness’ test.
• Historical elements/historical figures. This isn’t a be all & end all prescription, but historical fiction, whether being simply set in the past (i.e. 1950’s America, 1914 on the Atlantic, or the 1960s in the Dominican Republic) or featuring ‘real’ historical women (i.e. Sarah Grimke, Minerva Mirabal, Dinah daughter of Jacob, etc…), tend to be more focused on what it means to step beyond boundaries, expectations & the traditional delineations of femininity.
• Grounded in reality & featuring a linear narrative. I really do love Ursula Le Guin’s science fiction stories (which is why there are several of her books/short stories on the list!) and ‘slice of life’ / alternative, indie pieces, however the stories with the clearest ‘moments’ of leadership and tension in terms of women’s experiences, are the ones following a conventional story line / plot and with rich narrative and dialogue.
• Written after 1980 (or maybe 1970?). The pre-1980 pieces I’ve read are either exclusively focused on women’s rights (second wave feminism) or are so well-known & loved (think Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, Gone With the Wind, Middlemarch) that I feel there is little room to be creative/untraditional in exploring them; it’s almost like desecrating something holy.

Recent Reading Endeavours: 

1. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Applicability Rating: 9/10

Relevant Themes: Authenticity, expectations & perceptions, overcoming obstacles

Key Thoughts: This is a truly beautiful story which traces the events of Sarah Grimke's life & how she 'invents her wings' as both an abolitionist speaker and a women's rights activist. It is a story of overcoming the expectations and roles society traps/enslaves you in. Narrated from both Sarah and Hetty's perspectives, The Invention of Wings is simplistic in its thematic concerns & yet powerful in the way it thoughtfully examines injustice, hypocrisy, and authenticity. No easy resolutions are proposed, and in fact, it ends rather abruptly, especially considering how long was spent on Sarah & Hetty’s childhood. However, for me at least, I enjoyed how it explored what it means to find one’s own ‘authentic self’ in the mess of societal expectations and when evil is masked by 'righteousness' and tradition. I particularly love that Sarah is not a heroine in the conventional, kicking-ass sense. She makes poor decisions and is, at times, hindered by almost debilitating fear and anxiety. For me, the most profound moment of the novel is when she observes (after so long searching for her purpose) that: "What I feared was the immensity of it all - a female abolition agent traveling the country...I wanted to say, Who am I to do this, a woman? But that voice was not mine. It was Father's voice. It was Thomas'. It belonged to Israel, to Catherine, and to Mother. It belonged to the church in Charleston and the Quakers. It would not, if I could help it, belong to me" (p. 320).

2. Welcome to Thebes by Moira Buffini

Applicability Rating: 8/10

Relevant Themes: Power & Status, women's leadership, crisis situations, peace & war

Key Thoughts: Set in the present day but inspired by ancient myth, Welcome to Thebes offers a passionate exploration of an encounter between the world's richest (Athens) and the world's poorest (Thebes) countries in the aftermath of a brutal war.

This play encompasses so much more than women's leadership in its stark & brutal portrayal of war torn 'Thebes' (an unnamed African nation). However, in choosing to make the elected democratic cabinet all female (with one ‘token’ man) and led by a new female president, Moira Buffini explores the double-bind that women face in positions of leadership and the ways their positions of power are challenged by men and women alike.

3. The Matter of Seggri by Ursula K. Le Guin

Applicability Rating: 7.5/10

Relevant Themes: Gender role reversal, matriarchal society, female superiority, collaboration between women

Key Thoughts: In this thought-provoking science fiction story, Le Guin experiments with gender roles, imagining a matriarchal society where traditional signs of male superiority – strength, aggression, competitiveness, sexual dominance – signify social inferiority. By deconstructing the warrior identity and masculine traits commonly idealised by Western society and asking what would a society be like if the male sex were only used for pleasure & pro-creation, Le Guin works towards a reconciliation of the sexes.

Disturbing, satirical, and at times sexually explicit, Le Guin touches on both the negative and positive aspects of an all-female run society. Unfortunately, due to its sexual overtones and explicit language, it's not likely to be a story that everyone will enjoy. There is also a lack of character development as it switches abruptly between different perspectives and stories.

 4. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Applicability Rating: 8.5/10

Relevant Themes: Relational leadership between women, courage & ambition, authentic leadership & followership

Key Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I had no prior knowledge of the Mirabal sisters and their tragic death, but Alvarez vividly portrays their lives and the events leading up to their assassination during Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in stunning detail. A few of the particularly pertinent discussion points include the development of solidarity between women and what it means to 'have courage' and to become courageous. What contextual factors contribute to the process of 'becoming' a leader, and particularly, a female leader? 

In a postscript at the end of the novel titled 'Still Time for Butterflies', Julia Alvarez writes:

“Often when we read about brave women like the Mirabal sisters, we think that in order to advance the cause of freedom we have to do grand things. But in fact, if we look at the lives of these four sisters, we realise that all of them came to their courage in small, incremental steps, little moments and challenges we all face every day of our lives. In some ways, we become brave, almost by accident. Something happens and we respond to that challenge courageously and compassionately. But really, all along the way to that something big happening, we’ve been cultivating a compassionate heart, a listening and big-hearted imagination. And one of the ways to cultivate such an elastic and inclusive imagination is by reading books.”  

And this is what my reading list looks like now! Yay!!

Title:	Author:	Year:	Type:
A Room of One’s Own	Virginia Woolf	1926	Extended essay
The Poisonwood Bible	Barbara Kingslover	1998	Novel
The Women’s Room	Marilyn French	1977	Novel
Top Girls	Caryl Churchill	1982	Play
The Secret Life of Bees	Sue Monk Kidd	2002	Novel
The Group	Mary McCarthy	1963	Novel
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie	Muriel Spark	1969	Novel
Cousins	Patricia Grace	1998	NZ Fiction
Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston	1937	Novel
The Left Hand of Darkness	Ursula Le Guin	1969	Sci-fi Novel
How to Be Both	Ali Smith	2014	Novel
Outline	Rachel Cusk	2010	Novel
The Real & The Unreal: Short Stories	Ursula Le Guin		Sci-fi Short Stories
Welcome to Thebes	Moira Buffini	2010	Play
The Woman in the Window	Alana De Greon	1998	Play
Pax	Deborah Levy	1985	Play
girl.	Megan Mostyn-Brown	2004	Play
The Red Tent	Anita Diamant	1997	Novel
In the Time of Butterflies	Julia Alvarez	1994	Novel
Olive Kitteridge	Elizabeth Strout	2008	Novel
The Lifeboat	Charlotte Rogan	2012	Novel
The Invention of Wings	Sue Monk Kidd	2014	Novel
The Miniaturist	Jessie Burton	2014	Novel