404 INK – NASTY WOMEN (Various Authors)

Soooo behind on reviewing books! Here’s number 8 in my 52 Books by 52 Publishers reading challenge. Today’s publishing house is…

 

404 Ink!

404 Ink is a new, alternative, independent publisher of books

and literary magazines based in the UK.

Who are 404 Ink?

Laura Jones is a freelancer who works in book production & promotion and is Bloody Scotland crime festival’s social media manager. She worked as Editorial and Marketing Assistant for Saraband and currently has numerous clients across publishing. [@laurafjones / Website]

Heather McDaid is a freelance writer and publishing person, who has worked with music magazines since the age of 18, including Upset, Rock Sound and DIY. She also works across the book world doing odd jobs, like marketing and coding. [@heathermmcd / Website]

Unsurprisingly, the book I’m reviewing from them is:

With intolerance and inequality increasingly normalised by the day, it’s more important than ever to share real experiences and hold the truth to account in the midst of sensationalism and international political turmoil. Nasty Women is a collection of essays, interviews and accounts on what it is to be a woman in the 21st century. Punk, pressure, politics, people – from working class experience to racial divides in Trump’s America, being a child of immigrants, to sexual assault, Brexit, pregnancy, contraception, identity, family, finding a voice online, role models and more, Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!, Zeba Talkhani, Chitra Ramaswamy are just a few of the incredible women who share their experience here. Keep telling your stories and tell them loud.

My review is never really going to do this book justice. This is an incredibly important book, and I don’t even really know where to start. But I’ll give it a shot.

All of the women in this book are incredibly inspirational, brilliant writers, unique in their voices and outlook. Their insights are so valuable in a society that is becoming more and more terrifying by the minute.

The book doesn’t seek to preach or to dictate; instead it hands you stories that are possibly alternative to how you see the world, and asks you to do the very simple task of opening your mind in order to realise that there is no “normal”. Every single point of view in this book is valid and should be celebrated. Every single story educates you in a compelling, non-patronising way.

The book is easy to read while challenging you to either change your way of thinking, or to encourage those around you to do the same. It highlights the importance of women in society and it tackles subjects that so many people deem either too scary to face, or else not important enough to discuss.

The book is funny in places and heartbreaking in others, but always it is fascinating and eye-opening. There are things I thought I knew about in the world, but a lot of these essays taught me that actually often I just think I know what I’m talking about. And it’s books like these that prove to me that even though I am liberal and tolerant and open minded, I have a lot of self-educating to do as well.

I dog eared so many pages with the intention of including lots of quotes in this review, but actually I think if I did this I would be robbing the reader of discovering them while reading the book, and the enjoyment of finding profundity in the words themselves.

Read this book; it is essential reading for men and women alike. It will give all of you a new respect for women and what we all go through in day-to-day life.

Definite five stars from me.

Buy the book here: http://www.404ink.com/shop/nasty-women

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*Blog Tour Stop* TARGETED AND TROLLED BY ROSSALYN WARREN

I am very proud that Words Are My Craft is a blog tour stop for Targeted and Trolled by Rossalyn Warren.

A feminist campaigner is sent death threats online at a rate of over fifty-per-hour. A woman who shares on social media her experience of rape, so that others might feel brave enough to speak out, is bombarded with abusive messages. More than a hundred female celebrities have their personal nude photographs stolen and published by hackers. The victims of these stories of trolling and internet crimes have just one thing in common: their gender.

Most of us use the internet every day, but we rarely stop and think about the way we are received there and whether the treatment of women online differs from the treatment of men. As a Buzzfeed journalist, Rossalyn Warren has first-hand experience of the sexism and misogyny targeted at women online – the insults about their appearance, the rape threats, and in some instances even stalking.

In Targeted and Trolled, Warren exposes the true extent of the global problem. Informative, empowering and inspiring, this book is both a shocking revelation of the scale of the problem and a message of hope about how men and women are working together to fight back against the trolls. [Synopsis taken from Goodreads]

This book is an absolute essential read for any man or woman in this day and age, especially those who are very active online or with social media. So many people have no idea what is going on in the online world – how dangerous and damaging it can be, and just how many women, both high-profile and not, suffer at the hands of trolls and abusers on the internet.

The book offers examples and case studies of inspirational and influential women who have suffered needlessly for being outspoken or even simply for having a presence on the internet. Brilliantly, it also provides examples of abused women from different countries, including Pakistan, a country in which this problem is not widely known amongst the public. It shines a light on the fact that women all over the world and in every kind of community are facing this abuse and that it should not be something that women can’t talk about or seek help for.

It also tackles the stereotype that online trolls are isolated young men. In fact, as the book states, “The reality is, those who commit online abuse can be of any age, race or gender.” The book explores the consequences of there being almost a relaxed sense of morality online. There seems to be a perception amongst trolls that the internet is lawless and that things that are not OK in the real world are fine in cyberspace. People do and say things online that even they themselves would not find acceptable in the physical world. The book also explores other reasons as to why people behave the way they do to women online and whether there are any common character traits which cause people to do so.

It does not discount the fact that men are also subject to trolling and online abuse; rather it effectively outlines the differences between that abuse that women face and that that men receive.  The abuse women receive is gender-centric, whereas when men are abused it is rarely because they are men:

“I really want women to know that when they’re called a slut or a bitch for sharing a comment online, that is very different to a man being called an asshole because somebody didn’t like his opinion.”

Targeted and Trolled backs up its every argument and example with scientific research, case studies and facts and figures. It is both shocking and empowering for women at the same time. It shows us we are not alone and it gives us suggestions as to how we can tackle the problem, and how it is already being tackled by inspirational women all over the world. It is a sobering and fascinating read and is very much needed in today’s society. Whether you’re a man or a woman, read this book and let your voice be heard against this despicable abuse.

A fantastic book. Well done and thank you to Rossalyn Warren for speaking out for women everywhere.

Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma by Kerry Hudson

This novel came into my hands in quite a different way to the usual trip-to-the-bookshop routine. Anyone who looks on my Twitter or Facebook feeds for more than 30 seconds will know that I’m currently searching for a job in publishing. As such, I decided to become more actively involved in the literary scene in my home city of Hull (incidentally, the City of Culture for 2017!).

It was at a literary event named Head In A Book (run by the editor of local publisher Wrecking Ball Press) at Hull Central Library that I first heard about the book. I hadn’t read it before attending, and so I went into the event a little blind. The author, Kerry Hudson, was giving a talk with fellow author Russ Litten about this book and also about her newest novel, Thirst, which is on my ‘to be read’ pile. Immediately after the talk was finished, I went ahead and bought the book. There was no way I was leaving without a copy. Russ and Kerry did a great job of selling it to me!

First off, I should state that Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma (I’ll refer to it as Tony Hogan for short from here on out) is unlike any other book I’ve ever read. In a good way! To use such a narrative viewpoint is extremely brave; Kerry Hudson said herself at the event that she expected to be ‘given a lot of stick’ for writing a first person narrative which begins in a child’s infancy (from the minute she’s born, in fact). When I heard about this, I was dubious as to whether it would work. My first thought was that it would lose credibility as nobody could physically remember things – in such detail, at least – from such an early age.

However, it doesn’t seem to take away from the book at all, at least in my view. If anything, it works to highlight how easily a young girl can grow up perceiving the poverty, conflict and brutality of her life as normal. It also helps solidify Janie’s bond with her mother, Iris. Despite Iris’ flaws and occasional neglect, Janie is utterly devoted to her as she is growing up. Iris is her lifeline and her only chance of survival, and in setting the book at the absolute beginning of Janie’s life, the author manages to convey that perfectly.

The Head In A Book event for Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma. Yes, I will review books with short titles, too. I promise!

The novel follows Janie, ‘the latest in a long line of Aberdeen fishwives’, as she and her family go through life moving from council estate to council estate, in increasingly dangerous and deprived situations, struggling to survive in a state of constant poverty. But Janie is different. She’s seen her mother, and the generations before her, failing to make anything of themselves and she decides that she wants more from life.

Kerry mentioned in her conversation with Russ that one of her original titles for the book was Echoes of Small Fires (a line from the book), but the publisher decided against this as it was “far too literary a title” for a book with such brutal subject matter (and so much swearing!). Be that as it may, the book is filled with “literary” language that really sets the writing apart. Take, for example, this line:

It was so quiet I wondered if the people who lived there ever turned up the telly or stitched their sentences with shouted swear words aimed to wound.

The entire novel is peppered with beautiful and lyrical wording such as this, which works fantastically as it contrasts heavily with the harsh subject matter, making it seem even more shocking. Because of this, I found myself really feeling for Janie and her entire family. Yes, they are surrounded by drug takers, alcoholics and dole bums, but Hudson portrays Janie, her little sister Tiny and her mother Iris in such a vulnerable and tragically fragile way that you cannot help but want more for the family. Here it is not a case of rooting for the legally and morally perfect protagonist – there are none in this book. But Hudson managed to make me overlook the character flaws and wish for a better world for Janie, because in a better world she could become a better person.

The Observer reviewed Tony Hogan and described it as ‘colourful, funny, joyful and compelling.’ While it is definitely not ‘joyful’ throughout (in fact there are some pretty grim and upsetting scenes) it is ultimately a very realistic piece of work that grips you from beginning to end. It is funny, it is sad, and it is definitely compelling. The characters will stay with you for much longer than it takes to read the book. And considering how good it was, it didn’t take that long to finish.

Novels like Tony Hogan are what the literary and publishing world seems to be lacking for the most part. One of the main themes of Kerry’s talk at Head In A Book was the working class writer and the struggle to get published. Kerry and Russ talked at length about the difficulties facing working class writers due to elitism in mainstream trade publishing. Kerry argued that the publishing industry needs to introduce a wider spectrum of voices – including working class voices – into literature. She stressed that it is the job of publishing and writing professionals to break free of the mindset that some people of a certain type (i.e. working class or underprivileged, forced into a criminal lifestyle) ‘do not deserve to be seen in literature.’ These things DO happen, these people DO exist, and they have a right to be heard and represented in writing.

As a result, Kerry runs an amazing and inspiring project called the WoMentoring Project which offers ‘free mentoring by professional literary women to talented up and coming female writers who would otherwise find it difficult to access similar opportunities.’ – womentoringproject.co.uk

This writer is not only speaking out and being heard on behalf of working class female writers everywhere – she is also paving the way for others to do the same.

You can follow these people on Twitter:

Kerry Hudson @KerrysWindow

Russ Litten @RussLitten

Wrecking Ball Press @wbphull and Head In A Book @hiabhull

Hull Libraries @hull_libraries

Hull City of Culture @2017hull

Website links:

Kerry Hudson

The WoMentoring Project

Head In A Book

Wrecking Ball Press

Vintage Books

Hull City of Culture