Sophie Truelove

I was very interested to read the negative reviews of this book. I was not surprised to find that most of them came from religious, anti-feminist women (the worst sort, in my opinion) or … yep… men. One in particular made me laugh - he claimed he had religious leanings and therefore found the atheist sentiment ‘preachy.’ Oh, the irony. Another woman talked about the feminist tropes (i.e ‘men = bad’) which tells me two things. One, she didn’t actually read the book. There ARE men to admire in this book and the commentary is on the sexism of society in the 50s - how it dictated and dominated everyday life - something I feel younger women have trouble fully understanding. Two, she doesn’t understand feminism. This book is excellent. The writing isn’t over-bloated, the story is equal parts heartbreaking and witty, the dialogue is fantastic and the message profound. It could be criticised for its lack of realism, but actually, at least for me, that’s what makes it such a fantastic read. The anthropomorphic dog, the HB pencil, the Chemistry cooking show - it’s like a modern day fable with real energy.