The Alibi Book Club #30 | Why You Need To Read The Penguin Women Writers Series

Not only are the covers of these books super pretty and actually sooo tumblr, they make up a cool and unique collection from Penguin. The Penguin Women Writers.

I first heard about these from the wonderful life/book blogger vivatramp, who included these in a book haul a while ago. And as soon as I researched what each was actually about, I knew I needed these on my shelf. ASAP.

These novels are a collection of stories written by four women who basically shaped fiction and these books are some of their most well known.  Penguin released these to celebrate the centenary of women receiving the vote in Great Britain.

We have The Lark by E. Nesbit who wrote The Railway Children, Meatless Days by Sara Suleri who writes a captivating memoir of her relationships with her family, Lifting the Veil by Ismat Chughtai who recieved a lot of criticism for a few stories that are shared in the novel. And Birds of America by Mary McCarthy who uses the novel as a way of discussing current issues.

Having recently finished them all, it only seemed right to talk about them in this post. And who knows, you might be interested to read them too. So grab a snack and a reading list, and read on to see what these special books are about...*

001: e. nesbit - the lark:
The Lark is by E. Nesbitt who wrote The Railway Children and this is one of her adult novels. It follows cousins Jane and Lucy whom after leaving school go to quaint cottage in the countryside to find that their guardian has gambled all their fortune away and leaves them to think up ideas of making money to support themselves.


This novel is lighthearted and really funny and starts off with them selling flowers as their first job and then to host paying guests to stay. What follows is a series of events that both describe as a ‘lark’.

"It's 1919 and Jane and her cousin Lucilla leave school to find that their guardian has gambled away their inheritance, but left them with a small cottage outside London. Determined to become successful businesswomen, the cousins embark on a series of misadventures - setting up a flower shop, a guest house, and ignoring the attentions of male admirers - in a bid to secure their independence."

002: sara suleri - meatless days:
This is my first full non-fiction memoir and probably one of my favourites! Switching between life in Pakistan, Britain and the US, Sara Suleri tells us nine stories about the people that touched her life. E.g. the relationships she had with her mother, father, brothers and sisters and ex lovers.

This memoir is not only a celebration of those people but also a heartbreaking tragedy about those she has lost.

Suleri weaves a captivating narration that makes you feel like you knew or would want to know these relatives and friends. And there’s a few life lessons along the way!


It for sure gives you all the feels...

"Meatless Days is a searing memoir of life in the newly-created country of Pakistan. When sudden and shocking tragedies hit the author's family two years apart, her personal crisis spirals into a wider meditation on universal questions: about being a woman when you're too busy being a mother or a sister or a wife to consider your own womanhood; about how it feels to begin life in a new language; about how our lives are changed by the people that leave them. This is a heart-breaking, hopeful and profound book that will get under your skin."




003: ismat chughtai - lifting the veil:
Even though this was written in the 1940s, the language in the stories are modern and ambitious which makes it really easy and enjoyable to read.


Aside from my usual light hearted, fantasy and general fiction reads, delving into something on a more serious side - with a little humour - that is not as well know was refreshing. Though I do admit, there were times when I was *slightly* lost at what was going on.

"Lifting the Veil is a bold and irreverent collection of writing from India's most controversial feminist writer. These stories celebrate life in all its complexities: from a woman who refuses marriage to a man she loves to preserve her freedom, to a Hindu and a Muslim teenager pulled apart by societal pressures, to eye-opening personal accounts of the charges of obscenity the author faced in court for stories found in this book.

Wickedly funny and unflinchingly honest, Lifting the Veil explores the power of female sexuality while slyly mocking the subtle tyrannies of middle-class life. In 1940s India, an unlikely setting for female rebellion, Ismat Chughtai was a rare and radical storyteller born years ahead of her time."

004: mary mccarthy - birds of america:
Birds of America in particular is a coming of age novel about a teenager called Peter who starts off going back to Rocky Port with his mother, and seeing societal changes in their absence. From the death of a Great Horned Owl to falling demand for kitchen utensils... Peter then goes to Paris for further study to avoid being drafted into the Vietnamese war.

McCarthy uses Peter as a tool for showing political and social issues of the 1970s. He is naive, innocent and above all introverted. But his views are strong, and I think they represent what the author thinks.


I thought this novel would be a little boring, but it wasn’t. It’s written in such a way that you see the issues highlighted through every day events like at a dinner party, through the means of looking at art and even the struggle of trying to get bean pots...

"eter Levi, a shy and sensitive American teenager, moves to Paris to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War, where he is determined to live a life in harmony with his own idealistic views. But the world is changing at breakneck pace, with nuclear war looming abroad and racial tensions simmering at home. Before long, Peter's naïve illusions are shattered, as he finds himself an unwilling participant in an era of extraordinary change.

Birds of America is an unforgettable and deeply moving story of personal and political turmoil; of the strange and surprising nature of growing up; and of the questions we face when we examine who we really are."

*reviews are directly taken from my goodreads account (@ franalibi)