In Walks a Woman

A lively take on Pride and Prejudice that centers Mrs. Bennet’s loud matchmaking and survival strategies. They highlight entailment, family panic after Lydia’s elopement, and Darcy’s secret rescue. There’s also comic treatment of Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine’s domineering moments, and debates about whether the novel is progressive about marriage and gender.

In so many ways, Toni Morrison expanded the reaches of our cultural imagination both in terms of understanding our history and exploring the intricate landscape of the human psyche through language.  Beloved, Morrison’s 1987 masterpiece, alternates settings between 1850’s Kentucky and 1870’s Ohio, depicting Sethe, protagonist and former slave, isolated and dealing with trying to live on after the scarring trauma of slavery.  She finds herself feeling, for instance, the complicated nostalgia for the beautiful trees of the plantation where she grew up…while those very trees were used to hang black men she knew.  The reader recognizes the truth of this feeling, while reeling at the profoundly unresolvable conflict it creates for Sethe. Morrison takes on these painful paradoxes, including the desire of a mother to protect her children…at any cost.  And then, that same mother has to live with the cost as a personal regret, when the faceless structures of an evil institution made her choice necessary. Sonja and Vanessa consider how Morrison puts a mother, Sethe, at the center of her meditation on historical shadows, collective trauma, grief, memory, regret, and loss of self through Sethe’s story.  Sonja offers clear, helpful historical context for the American prewar period of the 1850’s and also Reconstruction, in the 1870’s.  Vanessa gives an overview of the plot, and there are spoilers, but nothing can detract from the immersive experience it is to read Morrison’s lyrical prose, so–even after listening to this episode– readers can absolutely enjoy the novel for the first time or the fiftieth.Please be advised  that Morrison’s novel deals with violence, including infanticide, and the episode discusses these aspects of the novel, so it might not be a good fit for all listeners.REFERENCES:The Black Book, Edited by Toni MorrisonText of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Yale Law School Library12 Years a Slave, Publisher's WebsiteDred Scott Case / National ArchivesText of the 13th Amendment,  Congress.govText of the 14th Amendment, Congress.govText of the 15th Amendment, Congress.goveHistorical Context of the film, Birth of a NationInfo on 1989 film Field of DreamsInformation on Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, HBStowe Foundation SiteUncle Tom's Cabin, novel for purchaseTa-Nehisi Coates's The Water Dancer, novel for purchaseJulie Otsuka's Buddha in the Attic, novel for purchaseFederico Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, play for purchase in EnglishVirginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, novel for purchase

Sonja and Vanessa explore Virginia Woolf’s 1927 novel, To the Lighthouse with a focus on Mrs. Ramsay, one of the great mums of British literature. As a happy coincidence, Sonja’s daughter, Sage McHenry, was in town for the episode recording, and Sage offers her Gen Z-reader thoughts on the classic novel. To the Lighthouse, while not strictly autobiographical, has clear links to Woolf’s own life experience, particularly her memories of her parents.  We start off with a look at Woolf’s childhood and formative experiences, her education, her own thoughts on whether to become a mother, and her life-long struggles to maintain mental stability.  Please note that that this episode does discuss child sexual abuse.  From there, we examine the 3 parts of the novel:  “The Window,” all about the day that starts with little James telling his mother, Mrs. Ramsay, that he wants to go to the lighthouse and ends with a dinner where the whole family and all their guests connect emotionally after a delicious meal.  Despite Mrs. Ramsay’s hopefulness that the lighthouse visit will happen the next day, the weather shifts, and the trip does not happen.  In the second part, “Time Passes,” the house lies empty and begins falling apart, World War 1 rages, we are parenthetically told of several deaths in the family–including that of Mrs. Ramsay.  Finally, in the third part, “The Lighthouse,” the trip that had not happened in childhood, finally happens, but only Mr. Ramsay, James, and Cam are left, and they note the absence of a mother who was able to create an emotional web among all her loved ones.   Join Sonja and Vanessa as they reflect on the many ideas the novel considers:  women acting as mirrors for male confidence, the contrast of a woman choosing to create art vs. a woman creating family, motherhood as unappreciated creative work, the idea of male and female in a sort of cosmic balance, nostalgia, the ephemeral nature of childhood and community, and Woolf’s clear admiration for of one woman’s power to use her emotional intelligence to connect a diverse group of people into a harmonious community–if only for a day.  REFERENCES Emma Woolf, great niece of Virginia Woolf, article that explains why Virginia didn't become a mother herself:https://www.newsweek.com/2015/02/27/joyful-gossipy-and-absurd-private-life-virginia-woolf-306438.htmlNino Strachey's Young Bloomsbury: he Generation That Redefined Love, Freedom, and Self-Expression in 1920s EnglandVirginia Woolf's A Room of One's OwnEmily Dickinson's poem, "Tell All the Truth" Peter Pan pdf illustrated edition with picture of Wendy on the 2 "tombstone"Dylan Thomas's poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night"100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia MarquezVanessa Bell, sister to Virginia Woolf, bio info

Sonja and Vanessa are thrilled to welcome Dr. Jonathan Mayhew, an international scholar on Federico Garcia Lorca, to explore the theme of motherhood in Lorca’s 1934 play, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda Alba, the masterpiece Lorca finished writing just two months before he was assassinated by Spanish fascists in August 1936. Disappeared by Franco's Falange forces at age 38, Lorca never saw Bernarda performed. Both plays question the expectations and limits traditional society puts on women in terms of sexuality, marriage, and motherhood.  Yerma lyrically portrays a wife who cannot conceive, trying to figure out what purpose she serves without motherhood...she asks if she is even a woman. In Bernarda Alba, Lorca forges a crucible within the walls of a locked house, in a Spanish village, at the height of a sizzling Andalusian summer, in which five young women live, caged by religious mores, fears of gossip, patriarchal traditions, and the demands of their own sexual desires.  Bernarda–their own mother–appoints herself their jailer, and with cruel words and a walking-cane-cum-blunt-weapon, Bernarda dominates her daughters, her servants--even her own octogenarian mother.  Dr. Jonathan Mayhew explains and offers insights on crucial textual elements, plus he fills in key information about Lorca’s biography and the complicated political landscape of 1930’s Spain, in the lead up to the Spanish Civil War.  This episode showcases all the elements we value on In Walks a Woman:  scholarship, history, enduring literature, and women’s stories.  Treat yourself to an episode that examines a Spanish male writer who showcases passionate, powerful women in stories that refract larger social, religious, and political issues….many of which we are still negotiating in 2025.  LINKS:Jonathan Mayhew's 2020 book, Lorca's LegaciesJohnathan Mayhew's 2009 book, Apocryphal Lorca2015 Presentation: Conversations in the Observatorio: Jonathan Mayhew. Lorca's Modernist Self-fashioning in collaboration with Harvard  Faculty of Arts and SciencesTranslation of Lorca's 3 Major Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba (Dr. Mayhew recommends this translation)Spanish Text of Lorca's Bodas de Sangre, Yerma, La Casa de Bernarda AlbaThere are absolutely online translations of Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba that are free, but the quality of the translation might vary. Sonja mentions the BBC version of The House of Bernarda Alba with Glenda Jackson as Bernarda and Joan Plowright as la Poncia, but sadly it does not appear to be available via streaming online.  You might have more luck at your local library or finding a used copy for sale.  It’s a brilliant production with two of the greatest British actresses ever.  Jackson passed away in 2023, and we just lost Plowright this January of 2025.  If you can find this performance with these two legends, it is SO worth watching!  #lorca #garcialorca #federicogarcialorca #spanishcivilwar #womenintheater #bernardaalba #inwalksawoman

Vanessa and Sonja examine Julie Otuska’s completely original narrative style in her novel, The Buddha in the Attic (2011).  Vanessa grabs the historical student-driver wheel along with Sonja’s steady historical expertise to give you the story of Japanese immigration to the United States, the fascinating phenomenon of “Japanese Picture Brides” (OG catfishing?), the journey of women who leave their mothers and families in Japan to a country where they can only snag a foothold when they, the novel’s narrators, become the mothers of American citizens.  And then comes the bombing of Pearl Harbor…and all footholds are lost.  Buddha is like no other novel that has been written.  Why? Because it tries to capture the “kaleidoscopic” (Sonja’s perfect adjective!) of women experiencing sweeping cultural events, women who traditionally have no voices and remain forgotten by history.  What if all those women from the past could speak?  What if they could all reach out to us from history and share a moment of their life experience?  If they could, Julie Otsuka would be their medium, and the themes of motherhood and the cadence of poetry in Buddha would be their book.  Julie Otsuka's WebsiteTHE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC for purchase from the publisher, Penguin Random HouseWHEN THE EMPEROR WAS DIVINE for purchase from publisher, Penguin Random HouseAlso Referenced in this Episode:An novel that exemplifies the use of multiple first-person narrators:WONDER by RJ Palacio, for purchase from the publisher, Penguin Random HouseMore Info on Japanese art that may be influences:Kakemono HistorySumi / Japanese Ink Paintings

Sonja gives a tour de force presentation of Patriarchy's beginnings:  when, why, how, and what it replaced.  Was there Matriarchy before Patriarchy?  Sonja explains.  Why did humans go from one central Mother Goddess to a male god at the center of the pantheon of gods?  Sonja explains.  Is Patriarchy just how it is, or can it evolve into a less male-beneficial system?  Sonja explains!  In this detailed but very accessible historical explanation, you'll come away with a greater understanding of why both men and women in early civilizations morphed from more equal hunter-gatherer societies to sedentary patriarchal civilizations.  By the end of the episode, Sonja and Vanessa challenge the claim that Patriarchy is "natural," contending instead that it's actually just a fiction, a story...and as is the way with storytelling, can't we--both women and men--rewrite our story with a plot that puts all humans on more equal footing? Join us for this insightful historical overview that kicks off Season 2 of In Walks a Woman:  The Mother Goddess.Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy

Sonja and Vanessa delve into recent history to ask if it’s even possible to be your own woman in a world that is designed and controlled by men?  Through the lens of five prominent women of the 1980’s and 90’s, IWAW asks if female odysseys are doomed to follow in the footsteps of–or be a reaction to–male expectations.  Sonja and Vanessa dip into stories of women in politics and pop culture to ask what these real-life heroines gained and lost on their journeys.  If you are a fan or contemporary of Madonna, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, Cyndi Lauper or Sinead O’Connor, this episode offers a probing conversation about the forces at work in the lives of women who decided to enter traditionally male institutions and put themselves in front of the unforgiving male gaze.  Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Robber Bride (1998)For Purchase @ Penguin BooksJohn Berger’s 4 Part BBC Documentary Series, Ways of Seeing (1971)Ways of Seeing Series on You TubeLaura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema” (1975)Mulvey Article in PDFSinead O’Connor’s memoir, Rememberings (2021)For Purchase @ Harper CollinsAllison McCabe’s Why Sinead O’Connor Matters (2024)For Purchase @ University of Texas PressAllison McCabe’s Website:  AllisonMcCabe.comLegacy Season 8: Margaret ThatcherLet the Canary Sing (documentary)Sinead's 1989 Mandinka PerformanceSinead Protest on SNL & Rejection by Bob Dylan Fans a Few Weeks LaterMadonna's Material Girl Vid that is all shot through the male gaze of a rich guy trying to go out with her...and succeedingArticle on the Diana Sheer Skirt Pic, and the male photographer who felt that, regardless of embarrassment to the 19 year old woman in the pic, felt it was "too good" not to publish:Diana Sheer Skirt Revealing Legs PicBrilliant Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" Video

Sonja humors Vanessa for one last sail around in the odyssey ship as IWAW asks if an orphaned, mistreated, Victorian-Era heroine is really on an odyssey of her own.  Jane Eyre sure does travel, meets “monsters” both female and male (Aunt Reed & St. John are nothing if not terrifying), but IWAW uncovers some VERY surprising parallels that become clear when examining this classic novel through the lens of a Homeric odyssey.  Spoiler alerts, but if you’ve already read this engaging, inspiring, enduring young woman’s quest, we promise to point out some elements you have never considered.  Set out on the heath in the driving rain with Sonja and Vanessa to see Jane’s journey with new eyes!

Sonja and Vanessa play around with the odyssey concept and ask if the story 40-something Janie Crawford tells her BFF, Pheoby, in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God fits the definition of an Odyssey…and if maybe that’s even what Hurston had in mind in her legendary first two paragraphs?  Can following an unfamiliar dirt road be like the winds of the Aegean Sea tossing one into the unknown?  Is an odyssey about where you or what you ultimately learn about yourself?  Can marriages be battles? And what if the hot odyssey-sex involved is not with an strange, immortal witch but with the person you love most in the world?  Spoiler alerts! So if you want to read the novel first and then go on this journey with us, Sonja and Vanessa are waiting for you by the gate with idea-bags packed! Works referenced: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale HurstonWrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd

In the seventh episode of IWAW’s Odyssey series, Sonja and Vanessa circle back to Penelope–home base of The Odyssey in so many ways–by reading and discussing Margaret Atwood’s brief, poetic, witty take on how Penelope really feels about her absent husband.  Plus, Atwood gives voice to “the maidens,” a multiple murder that can’t be left off Odysseus’s hero resume. Spoiler Alert for Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad!  The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily WilsonMargaret Atwood's website