Her Own Voice

With Virginia Woolf as a guide, the stories of eight radical 20th century women–wanderers, rebels, explorers, mentors–who made a life for themselves in spite of everything.

Everything that changed in the 20th century changed more dramatically for women. Her Own Voice tells the stories of eight radical women who responded to social oppression and helped create the modernist movement.

As we witness the strong resurgence of trad wife popularity in modern culture, this book calls on women of every generation to actively wrestle with old ideas about what it means to be “good” and even “lovable.” Anne E. Fernald, world-renowned Virginia Woolf scholar, argues that the stories we read shape the lives we imagine for ourselves, and offers these stories as possible templates for living boldly and creatively.

Among the women featured are:

Margaret Wise Brown, groundbreaking author of Goodnight Moon
Jessie Redmon Fauset, prolific novelist of the Harlem Renaissance
Dorothy Arzner, the only woman director to make the transition from silent to sound films

The women in this book encompass a wide range of diverse identities: Black, white, Asian, lesbian, queer, straight, mothers, aunts, teachers; novelists; poets, filmmakers, musicians, producers. Altogether, they provide an inspirational reminder that the social and political upheaval of our time is nothing new; women have been working to overcome enormous barriers in the name of their art throughout history.