More Than a Woman by Caitlin Moran

More Than a Woman by Caitlin MoranA decade ago, Caitlin Moran thought she had it all figured out. Her instant bestseller How to Be a Woman was a game changing take on feminism, the patriarchy, and the general 'hoo ha' of becoming a woman. Back then, she firmly believed 'the difficult bit' was over, and her forties were going to be a doddle. If only she had known: when middle age arrives, a whole new bunch of tough questions need answering. Why isn't there such a thing as a 'Mum Bod'?

the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which lined the Long Island shore in the 1920s

It's New Year's Eve and House Tricks estate agents are hosting an open viewing in an up-market apartment when an incompetent bank robber rushes in and politely takes everyone hostage

but also attuned to the proximity of each moment

a hapless figure is hounded by a procession of invisible enemies who want him dead

our coasts are teeming with plant and animal life

with simplicity and clarity

set in a world on the very brink of its own destruction

Calling each one of us to action

impossible puzzles and riddles

she broke through oppression and over time transformed into a writer and activist who speaks for the marginalised - galvanised to use her own voice for change

My brother

through it all