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Recommended Reading: "Woman's World"
February 21, 2008

I've had this book in my stack for a couple of weeks, now, and I hesitate to admit what made me pick it up:  it was a Jezebel post. There, I've said it. I don't simply receive books and divine their properties through their covers; sometimes a maven needs a little help with recommendations herself. 

I'm recommending that you pick up Woman's World by Graham Rawle because it's like nothing you've ever read, or really even seen. Rawle, an artist, spent seven years accumulating and assembling this novel from snippets of text and images in old British women's magazines.

Our PW review called the novel "overlong" and said the "cut-'n-paste" ransom note quality of the text becomes "wearisome." On one hand, I agree -- when the story takes a campy noir-ish turn, I wanted to be able to read more quickly. On the other hand, Rawle is after something different than simply turning pages.

In the first 40 pages or so, you might believe otherwise -- his protagonist Norma seems simply to be parroting advertising lingo and received knowledge about the mythical ideal woman, seen through an early 1960s lens. Slowly Rawle brings in pieces of his plot: who is Mary, really? Why does neighbor Mrs. Price keep seeing a young woman entering and exiting the house when supposedly none lives there? Will Roy win the heart of Eve at the post office? What is Mr. Hands really after?

What seem to be campy questions become more serious once Norma has a crisis. It's true that the book seems "overlong," but that's mainly true if you read it solely as a novel, and don't consider its artistic implications. Rawle has done something unique and fascinating; even if you choose not to read Woman's World through, it's worth a look.

                                                           

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on February 21, 2008 | Comments (4)