Reader Comments: 

Who knew a feminist inspired travelogue would make such a good read? This is a really great and very accessible way to learn about Mary Wollstonecraft but it's a lot more than that. It's a very entertaining and readable tale of retracing a journey which raises so many questions about the role of women and motherhood today.

Following the life and journey of the feminist Mary Wollstonecroft with a baby in tow is no easy task but Bee Rowlatt does it with grace and determination, making this a wonderful story for all to read. She discovers things about herself and the feminist as they try to find the answers and balance between careers and babies. Also learning that love holds it all together as it flows through our lives.

In Search of Mary is nearly as moving, inspiring, intellectually stimulating, and hard to categorize as Mary Wollstonecraft herself. 

Do you agree with the three comments?

In Search of Mary by Bee Rowlatt

Bee Rowlatt is a writer and journalist. Her current book, In Search of Mary is inspired by the life of Mary Wollstonecraft. It's published by Alma Books.

The best-selling Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad (Penguin) has been dramatised by the BBC, and translated into numerous languages. Bee won the Society of Authors’ K Blundell Trust award to complete the travels for In Search of Mary.

Bee contributed to Virago's Fifty Shades of Feminism, and has clocked over two decades at BBC World Service (now freelance). She speaks fluent Spanish and has a research background in Latin America. She's written for The Telegraph, The Independent, Grazia, Die Welt, The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Mail, and appears regularly on TV and radio.

Bee does regular workshops and events on journalism, working motherhood, and feminism. She is chair of a campaign for a memorial statue of Wollstonecraft, has four children, and is currently based in New Delhi.

 (photo by Laurie Sparham)



June's Book of the Month

In Search of Mary by Bee Rowlatt

Toddler in tow, Bee Rowlatt embarks on an extraordinary journey in search of the life and legacy of the first celebrity feminist: Mary Wollstonecraft. From the wild coasts of Norway to a naked re-birthing in California, via the blood-soaked streets of revolutionary Paris, Bee learns what drove her hero on and what’s been won and lost over the centuries in the battle for equality.

On this biographical treasure hunt she finds herself consulting a witch, a porn star, a quiet Norwegian archivist and the tenants of a blighted council estate in Leeds – getting much more than she bargained for. In her quest to find a new balance between careers and babies, Bee also discovers the importance of celebrating the radiant power of love in all our lives. 

Who is Stuart Prebble?

 

Stuart has worked in television since he left Newcastle University in 1823 where he studied Anglo-Saxon as a modern language.  He joined the BBC as a journalist and on-screen reporter, and was briefly famous in the north-east - even once hosting an entertainment spectacular in Blyth. He went on to produce and edit ITV's World In Action current affairs series, and was ITV's first Commissioning Editor for Factual programmes.  He was nominated for the BAFTA and had to try to look happy when he didn't win it, but was consoled by winning the RTS award for Best Factual Series. Stuart was eventually enticed to wear a suit, and rose through the ranks to become Chief Executive of ITV Digital - (which went into liquidation courtesy of Rupert Murdoch) and then ITV itself.  He left ITV in 2002 to set up an independent production company, Liberty Bell, where he originated and produced shows like the (various) Grumpies, Three Men in a Boat, the Alastair Campbell Diaries and many many more.  More recently he joined with friends to establish StoryVault Films, which makes terrific factual programmes for all the decent channels.  He also co-founded Storyvault.com, which is a web-site dedicated to collecting personal stories.  These days he does a lot of writing, which you can find out more about elsewhere on this site.  

http://www.stuartprebble.com/
@STUARTPREBBLE
stuart.prebble@storyvault.tv

Gordon Wise, Curtis Brown. gordon@curtisbrown.co.uk


#ReadingDaringly #DarllenBeiddgar

Book of the Month - February 2016

The Insect Farm by Stuart Prebble

Brothers Jonathan and Roger Maguire each have an obsession. For Jonathan, it is his beautiful and talented girlfriend Harriet. For Roger, it is the elaborate universe he has constructed in a shed in their parents’ garden, populated by millions of tiny insects.

But Roger lives in an impenetrable world of his own and, after the mysterious death of their parents, Jonathan is forced to give up his studies to take care of him. This obligation forces Jonathan to live apart from Harriet – further fuelling his already jealous nature.

Their lives are abruptly shattered by a sudden and violent death, and Jonathan is drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with the police. Does Roger know more than he is letting on? A cleverly plotted mystery with a shock ending, The Insect Farm – Stuart Prebble’s awaited new novel – will linger long in the mind of its readers.

#ReadingDarinlgy #DarllenBeiddgar