The Rebel Poetess

 I don't know about you but what a decade 2023 has been so far....the world's on the brink of war, you need a mortgage to buy a pack of butter, and to top it all off, harassment of women, both virtual and face to face, is worse than ever. I've never known anything like it. I can only speak for myself of course and truth be told, I feel a bit nervous writing about this -the original title was 'Me too in 2022' so you can only imagine how long I've been mulling it over for. I've recently read ''Sex Power Money' by Sara Pascoe - click here to check it out, and it's given me so much food for thought.  I've also recently done a course that has made me see how different growing up as a teenager in the late 90s is to teenagers who grow up now, where, particularly male behaviour, accepted back then as 'boys being 'boys and 'banter' would no way be acceptable now. Sara Pascoe puts forward what at first I found a bit of a controvers...

Book Review -So Lucky, Dawn O'Porter, Harper Collins, 2019 After the rightful success of Dawn O'Porter's novel 'The Cows', I couldn't wait to read her new novel, and was lucky enough to receive it as a gift for Christmas.   The tag line (Don't judge a woman by her cover) was very apt. So Lucky focuses on three central characters.   On the surface, Beth has what many women dream of.   An attentive husband, a beautiful baby, and a successful career, running her own company.   Ruby is ballsy, funny, and doesn't let anyone tell her who's boss.   Lauren has the perfect body, is about to marry her dream man, and has an Instagram feed to showcase every downward dog, flawless selfie, and a fun, easy relationship with her Mother. But scratch beneath the surface, and things are very different.   Beth's husband refuses to touch her, trying to shame her for her pregnancy weight gain, and shunning any expression of desire, telling her she...

Into the Darkest Corner, Elizabeth Haynes, Myriad Editions, 2011 Elizabeth Haynes is a police intelligence analyst and we can only imagine how much of the detail she has put into the novel that is based on fact.  The book was created as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and is Haynes first novel.  It was featured on More4’s TV Book Club in 2012 where it sparked a lively debate. Into the Darkest Corner tells the tale of an abusive relationship.  Catherine has been enjoying single life as much as the next person, relishing the freedom being unattached brings her.  All of this changes when she meets Lee.  A chance encounter leads to something more, while at first she enjoys the highs such a passionate pairing can bring, it soon becomes clear that in this case such highs bring crippling lows.  For Lee is not the nice guy he charms Catherine’s friends into thinking he is.  By the time she finally realises the lengths he will go to kee...

I’m going to put my hands up and confess I didn’t read this book when it first came out, due to bad reviews.   Actually, I got it from my local library - definitely saves me £££ on my reading habit! – read a few pages, put it down and forgot about it for a while. Now I have to tell you the reason the reviews put me off.   Having read Moran’s iconic How to Be a Woman and discovering a book that was actually my bible.   Anyone who wants to understand me just has to read that book.   The reviews gave the impression that this was pretty much a fictional copy of How to Be a Woman, at first I didn’t see the point of reading what many critics had lambasted as a copy of a copy. Curiosity got the better of me though, and I am so glad it did!   Having grown up in West Somerset, always dreaming of escaping from a small town where everyone knows your name and your business – not always a good thing – I could totally relate to Caitlin Moran’s fictionalized version ...

I had a really happy childhood. It was a typical childhood of the 80s. Playing in rivers. Making dams. Swimming in the sea. Feeling the sand under my feet.  I was a sickly child but I was always happy.  I grew used to the Drs appointments and the hospital visits. My attitude was always to just get on with it and keep smiling. But the adulthood has been extremely unhappy. Two long term relationships. Both abusive. Other trauma.  Big deal. Who hasn't been through shit in their lives?  Because life isn't about things being rosy all the time. What family isn't dysfunctional, Because I know one who is. The Royal Family. Maybe that's why the world is captivated by them. They fuck up in public. Prince Philip always puts his foot in it. Fergie is always embarrassing The Royals. The black sheep of the family. Well we know what happened to Princess Di. What the new generation of Royals have done for Mental Health is nothing short of superhuman. Because people aren't afr...