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Outsiders
Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World | Lyndall Gordon
21 posts | 2 read | 17 to read
Outsiders tells the stories of five novelists - Mary Shelley, Emily Bront, George Eliot, Olive Schreiner, Virginia Woolf - and their famous novels. We have long known their individual greatness but in linking their creativity to their lives as outsiders, this group biography throws new light on the genius they share. 'Outsider', 'outlaw', 'outcast': a woman's reputation was her security and each of these five lost it. As writers, they made these identities their own, taking advantage of their separation from the dominant order to write their novels. All five were motherless. With no female model at hand, they learnt from books; and if lucky, from an enlightened man; and crucially each had to imagine what a woman could be in order to invent a voice of their own. They understood female desire: the passion and sexual bravery in their own lives infused their fictions. What they have in common also is the way they inform one another, and us, across the generations. Even today we do more than read them; we listen and live with them. Lyndall Gordon's biographies have always shown the indelible connection between life and art: an intuitive, exciting and revealing approach that has been highly praised and much read and enjoyed. She names each of these five as prodigy, visionary, outlaw, orator and explorer and shows how they came, they saw and left us changed.
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Verity
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Anyone read this one? I love a group biography but writing style can make or break them...

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kspenmoll
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kspenmoll
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#VirginiaWoolf #Explorer

Next up, Virginia.
“We look into the mirror of her writings and find what we are now.”

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kspenmoll
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#catsoflitsy

Poe wants my attention. No books!

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Rhondareads
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Five women novelists five women who lived as outcasts rebels who dared to live their life as independence of norms of the day,

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kspenmoll
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#porchlife #Sundayevening #booksandbeer
My week off is over. 😥 it‘s been a good one. Walks, indoor projects, one movie, rest, read, rest, lots of time with hubby. Perfect. Birds singing loudly after a short rain.

BarbaraTheBibliophage Sounds lovely! 6y
BarbaraBB Sounds so good. Time flew by I guess 💕 6y
Cathythoughts Looks so nice ... I wish it was time for porch life here ... 6y
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Buechersuechtling @kspenmoll Aaaaawwww, it looks so lovely that I immediately thought: “I need a porch.” – even though, you know, I _love_ my balcony … 6y
Buechersuechtling @kspenmoll And your week-off sounds desirable: togetherness, taking a break from everyday life, new impressions. Maybe now you might not be too motivated to go back to work … 6y
MemoirsForMe Glad you had such a relaxing and fulfilling vacation. Sounds perfect! 6y
kspenmoll @UwannaPublishme It was just what I needed. 6y
kspenmoll @Buechersuechtling Your balcony is a mini porch! 6y
Suet624 💕💕💕 6y
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kspenmoll
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kspenmoll
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#grateful21 #Day13
Fell asleep last night before I could post this. I am grateful for:
- the humous neurologist who did my EMG on my arm
-#litsylove letters
- saw my first robin!
-

Eggs Oh I miss robins 6y
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kspenmoll
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LeahBergen Good old “George”. 😉 6y
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kspenmoll
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#GeorgeEliot #MarianEvans #Transformation #Outlaw
My older sister had bugged me since college to read Middlemarch. Too fat for me, and seemed boring. Read it on Serial Reader about 2 years ago out of guilt ago & I could not believe what I had been missing. I guess I needed to be very very mature! she did not say “I told you so”, but was thrilled for me. After that I tried Jane Austen. ❤️💛

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#GeorgeEliot #Outlaw

“Once a self-proclaimed ‘outlaw‘,by 1869 she reigned as pre-eminent novelist.”

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LeahBergen And just imagine if she had lived more than 30 years. 😭 6y
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kspenmoll
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#EmilyBronte #Visionary
“This is a sort of a writer without a mask. So little does society impinge that she presents the purist instance of rising genius. An imaginative fount is abundantly in play;but apart from this, she walks invisible. It is difficult or impossible to reach her except through her writings. She will not say some of the things you and I most want to know. What was her life like?”

LeahBergen Marvellous creature. ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
RohitSawant 💜💜 6y
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kspenmoll
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“Mary had lived closely with Shelley‘s fear of pursuit, and this, together with parental rejection, night horrors, and experiments in electricity, was a crucial ingredient for Frankenstein.” #Prodigy
I finished the section on Mary Shelley; so much I did not know. Now onto Emily Bronte. @LeahBergen You just might enjoy this book! 😘

LeahBergen I‘ve had this one stacked for so long and haven‘t bought it! It looks like it has been re-released in hardcover. 🤔 I loved this author‘s book about Emily Dickinson (have you read it?) 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Sounds interesting. Look forward to your review:) 6y
kspenmoll @LeahBergen I found this in the new section at the library. I did read her other a long time ago; hoping I did give it away - would like to reread although I know there is more info now in newer books. This is an intro to me as I have not read Emily‘s books 😱, just poetry. Now I have to! What do you suggest first? 6y
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LeahBergen @kspenmoll For Emily Bronte? Unfortunately, she only ever wrote the one novel, Wuthering Heights. 😩 She was supposedly writing another novel at the time of her death but it was never found (there is some speculation that her sister, Charlotte, got rid of much of her sisters‘ writings that she didn‘t quite “approve” of). 6y
kspenmoll @LeahBergen Thanks Leah. I never read Wuthering Heights. I really know very little of the Bronte‘s except some of her poetry & his sister‘s Jane Eye. So This book has been exciting for me. I do have more background knowledge re V Woolf & Eliot but have never heard of Olive Schreirer. 6y
LeahBergen I know virtually nothing of Olive Schreiner, either! 6y
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kspenmoll
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#librariesrock #booksandcoffee #Sundaymorningquiet
#Churchbells #nonfiction

I am surrounded by quiet this early morning with the exception of church bells and birds‘ song. Clock ticking.
Found this gem at the library, of course! Started it last night. How little I know of Mary Shelley‘s life.

MrBook 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
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emmanoble
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Tentative May #TBR - we‘ll see if I stick to it! What are you hoping to read this month? 📚

Redwritinghood I‘m terrible at sticking to a tbr plan, so I never have one. But I‘m sure I‘ll finish 7y
emmanoble Ooo I own that one but haven‘t had a chance to get to it. Let me know what you think! I‘ve heard mixed reviews. @Redwritinghood 7y
Redwritinghood @emmanoble So far I really like it. Great writing. 7y
emilyhaldi I‘ve been dying to get to some Barbara Pym!! Hopefully May is my month 🤞🏻 7y
emmanoble This is my first Pym! I‘m about halfway through & kind of in love with her already. Fingers crossed you get to some, it‘s just too good 🤞🏼 @emilyhaldi 7y
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LeahBergen
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Thank you to the wonderful @eanderson for hosting this giveaway! 😘

#OneOfThreeGiveaway

Heideschrampf Outsiders sounds awesome! 7y
Reviewsbylola I‘m dying to read the McNamara! 7y
eanderson I‘ve seen a lot for the top left!!! May have to look into it. Thank you for entering!!! 🤗 7y
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LeahBergen @Reviewsbylola Me, too. 👍🏻 7y
LeahBergen @eanderson Thank YOU. 😀 7y
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Jess_Read_This
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When you can‘t sleep....This early bird is diving into this one. 🐦 I do enjoy a Virago book. ❤️📖❤️

Blurb: “All five were motherless. With no female role model at hand, they learnt from books -and if lucky, from an enlightened man- and crucially each had to imagine what a woman could be in order to invent a voice of their own”

Foreword Blurb: “..five extraordinary outsider voices..a prodigy, a visionary, an outlaw, an orator, and an explorer”

GatheringBooks sounds intriguing!! perfect for women‘s month :) 7y
batsy Oooh! I really want to read this! 7y
CarolynM Love that Olive Schreiner is included 7y
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Smangela Sounds great! And love the mug😍 7y
LeahBergen Want!! 😍 7y
Jess_Read_This @GatheringBooks @batsy @CarolynM @Smangela @LeahBergen It‘s quite interesting so far! I‘ve finished the Mary Shelley section and reading about Emily Bronte. I didn‘t know much about either and the author is clearly a fan of each! Which is great reading but a few times, I found myself wondering if the author was grasping at making suppositions for certain behaviors and loosely tying those suppositions together,if that makes sense? It‘s still good! 7y
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