Two centuries after Jane Austen bemoaned the way in which women’s novels are seen as inherently trivial, novelists Radhika Swarup and Beth Morrey discuss whether this is still the case.
Both Beth Morrey and Radhika Swarup wrote first novels exploring a woman’s journey through life, including moments of love, loss and grieving. Beth Morrey is the author of Saving Missy, a story of loneliness and ageing, set in the present and at Newnham in the 1950s. Radhika Swarup is the author of Where the River Parts, telling the story of a family in Pakistan and India during Partition. Neither shies away from difficult topics, though both stories end with hope.
But are novels by women still seen as less serious? Does the inclusion of a love story in a book make it a ‘woman’s novel’? Why do surveys show that men don’t read books by women authors? Why do schools prefer to teach novels featuring men and boys? Does any of this matter, and if so, what can we do about it? We’ll be discussing these topics, and welcome thoughts and questions from the audience.
Beth Morrey
Beth Morrey (NC 1996) is a former TV producer who achieved her dream of writing a novel just before her 40th birthday. Saving Missy has sold in 17 countries, was one of the top ten bestselling debuts of 2020, longlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award. Her second novel, Em & Me, was published in the UK and US this year. Beth also presents a podcast, One Torn Every Minute, where she interviews women about their experience of giving birth.
Radhika Swarup
Radhika Swarup (NC 1997) is a lapsed banker and now a writer. Her work explores the themes of identity and exile. Her latest novel Civil Lines (2021) looks at India’s 2018 Me Too moment, and was longlisted for the Bangalore Literature Festival Best Novel Award. Where the River Parts, her debut novel, dealt with the lives and fortunes of a Hindu–Muslim couple parted in Punjab during the Partition of India and Pakistan and was chosen by Amazon India as one of their memorable books of 2016.