Bookclub Books:

The Women's Room by Marilyn French  

It didn't happen right at the start, but the more I read of this book, the more I felt somehow "at home" in it. It's not that I identified with the situations it described - for the most part I didn't, I was born in the seventies and take for granted the kind of equality these women only dream of - but that I felt completely drawn to the honesty of its intentions.

In hindsight, French's first book, a thesis on James Joyce, looks almost calculated to establish her credentials as a serious writer. It was ammunition she would need as critics slammed what followed. Published in 1977, The Women's Room, met with stark media criticism but did not take long to become a classic of feminist fiction. In the late 1970s it was a catalyst that launched thousands of book groups; it's the kind of book women have always passed on to each other and read together. It's the kind of book you need to talk to someone else about.

The central character Mira is a 1950s housewife who becomes a 1970s divorcee who goes back to college to study English. At Harvard she meets a group of women whose individual experiences and vastly varying outlooks on life offer her the kind of intellectual and emotional support she never imagined possible. Their wine-fuelled conversations form the backdrop to the unfolding story of Mira's life.

What actually got me into the book was my identification with the young Mira's constant reading as a way to find out about the world; what held me there was the emotional honesty of French's writing.

She balances the outlooks of the younger, recently married, Harvard women with those of the ones who've been through the suburbs-and-kids experience and found it lacking. Their discussions are wonderfully true to life, endlessly exploring both sides of the argument but never really reaching a satisfying conclusion: "We have to believe that we can do anything we want to; otherwise we're fucked before we begin,' Clarissa argued. 'Yes. If you don't fall head over heels into the trap because you didn't see it beforehand,' Val warned grimly."

This is not the militant feminist handbook it has sometimes been labelled. It is as much about the American Dream as it is about the particular experience of women in America. The men, although none are properly explored as characters, are victims of societal expectations too: the constant pursuit of money, the longing for social status, the house in the suburbs, the good job, the perfect children, the perfect wife. That the stories are told from the women's point of view made it radical, but that this was even an issue only highlights the fact that the vast cannon of writing up to that point had taken a male point of view and hardly anyone had thought to comment.

The world has changed, but the issues raised by The Women's Room are still faced in one form or another by twenty first century women. In the end, like any really good debate, the book raises more questions than it can answer. As Mira so succinctly puts it, "What do you do when you discover you like parts of the role you're trying to escape?"

Women of my generation may not regard life as quite the battleground French's women found it, but the reason we can sit back and say, "if a period of your life revolves around children rather than career, that's ok" is because we now have choices (at least the lucky women do). Mira's married sex life is, if possible, almost more depressing than her unhappiness with babies and housework; we like to think that openness about sex has changed all that, but I wonder how many women today might still identify with her experience?

French wrote this book because she perceived a lack of writing that was really relevant to women's lives (when Mira asks "Why don't they just forget about the men and be themselves?" she offers a perfect one-line review of Jacqueline Susann's 1966 novel The Valley of the Dolls). There is a spark of genius in its depiction of the women and the way they talk to each other and in French's description of the funny, awkward, disappointing and incredible sex which marks Mira's belated post-divorce sexual awakening.

I followed Mira, fascinated, from the stifling confinement of suburban fifties housewifery through the bitter isolation of married life in the swinging sixties an on to the battles of the seventies, but I have to say that I was left hollow by the end. The children, despite it all, seem to be the victims: Val's daughter Chris gets raped, Mira thinks she has a good relationship with her grown-up boys but she's clearly happier in the role of older female friend than that of mother, and what about all those years when they were like little strangers to her?

This is an ambitious and important book. It's not just about women, but asks how human beings might find a way to live life to its full potential whilst dividing the work that makes it not only comfortable but possible. I'm planning to read it again in twenty years time just to see how much things have changed. When one of the characters says, "I hate discussions of feminism that end up with who does the dishes," Mira responds, "So do I. But at the end, there are always the damned dishes." I think you can be guaranteed that much will always be true. 4/5

Score awarded by Bibliofemme: 3.4 out of 5

What the other femmes had to say

"It may be overlong and flawed at times but French's book is still an enduring classic about 'anatomy is destiny' and what it is to be a woman." 4/5

Although there is never enough emphasis put on the very important women's issues that French addresses in this book, this was not enough to keep me plodding through very poor character development and a flailing loose structure. Perhaps this structure was what was intended, as French systematically covered every women's' issue with calculated precision, leaving the 'novel' to flounder in the background. No doubt this book has caused a stir and continues to do so; however, I would feel that it is the issues that cause the stir, not French's presentation. Her highest achievement here was to make the issues accessible, compact and portable- reminding us of all the women who paved her way by the time she was published in 1977. 2/5

"This book evoked an overwhelming sense of sadness in me. It was an education and made me reflect on how woman who have gone before me have paved the way for my future. Highly recommended." 4/5

"Historically significant and worthy with points of insight and touching honesty glinting in an over-drawn and labored pit of women’s issues." 3/5

"French delivered a thought provoking and highly important book. It’s realistic and at times emotionally draining. It could pack a mean punch with some intensive editing." 3/5

"While I initially found this book difficult to get into, I found that it was well worth persevering with. As a historical document it was fascinating, giving me an insight into life before feminism, but it also gave me a greater appreciation for my mother and those women of her generation who didn't have the freedoms that we take for granted. There's also the (disturbing) fact that much of what Marilyn French wrote about is still valid. Food for thought indeed. Since finishing it I haven't stopped pressing it on friends and relations, men and women both. An essential read across the sexes." 4/5

"I loved this book. Thankfully most of the equality issues in the Western world are now a thing of the past but it was an eye-opener to how it used to be quite different, something we selfishly take for granted. I would recommend it to anyone. But I have to admit that I felt quite furtive reading it opposite my partner, I was hoping he wouldn't pick it up and read certain of the passages out of context." 4/5