Book - The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende

When I say that I was a feminist in kindergarten, I am not exaggerating.

I’d only come across Isabel Allende through the How To Academy, which I subscribed to for a few months this time last year. The conversation with the author did its job as it compelled me to buy this rather beautiful looking book. At the time, I was extra conscious to buy from independent retailers too although there isn’t one local to me in the centre of the big city of Birmingham, it was quite some effort to buy from someone who doesn’t have a functioning online shop. So I bought this more to support the retailer than the renowned Chilean author.

I selected this up from my TBR pile(s) when I was after another quick read. One of the reasons I read it in under a week - if your concentration is better than mine it can be read in a day - is that there are no chapters. Not having a natural place to stop meant I kept going until I had to stop to do something else.

This is what women want: to be safe, to be valued, to live in peace, to have their own resources, to be connected, to have control over their bodies and lives, and above all, to be loved.

Isabel has some interesting points of view rising probably from her upbringing by her single mother and in part, her grandfather. Her grandfather, while traditional, accepted her feminist mindset whilst warning that we simply did not live in a world of equality and equity.

Isabel Allende was there at the right time in the 1960s and this is less memoir and more essays and commentary on the world through feminist eyes. Her stepfather was a diplomat so travel featured which perhaps opened some insight too. It sure teaches me about the world. In any case, I sense the author coming from affluent stock..

There are some poignant quotes including ‘violence against women is the greatest crisis that faces humanity.  Surprisingly, the book had a more serious edge and is graphically upsetting towards the end which I wasn't expecting. It became a tougher read than the cover allows you to believe and for once I was looking forward to the book ending rather than putting it down so I can savour the final chapters the next day as I would ordinarily do. Never judge a book.

When talking about human rights, in truth we’re referring to men’s rights. If a man is beaten and deprived of his freedom, it’s called torture. When a woman endures the same, it’s called domestic violence and is still considered a private matter in most of the world.

There is a lot of abortion talk here and I feel like I'm back in the Steinem book. I ready the Nazis gave women who had 8 babies a medal. That's the very least of what they deserved to be fair.

My final thought, if time and time again we see stats where women do better at school, how come we are still paid less?

A good read if you holed up in a super cosy place for an afternoon or two.