avodavinci

Remarkable collection, well researched. Extraordinary that writings by the women featured in the book survived; some serendipitously, some purposefully. And much praise to Jocelyn for digging to find the women's stories and bringing them to our attention. We've talked for years about how women's stories are buried, ignored; the voices of female experience stilled. And here are a heartload of stories Jocelyn shares. The unbelievably terrible experience of the Aboriginal writer of The Rabbit Proof Fence. Margaret Catchpoole, an Australia-transported horse thief who wrote to the woman from whom she stole the horse! Ada Blackjack, stranded in the Arctic alone with a dead man and a gun she doesn't quite know how to use. Dr. Dang Thuy Tram's diary, rescued by an American serviceman, when another of the same probably ended her life. Harriet Jacobs, in whose writing we read firsthand experience of the horrific life of a female slave. And we're reminded how strong these women were; how much there is to admire in our gender, what tragedies we can survive, and what humility, faith and patience can accomplish.

2023-07-11 07:27