Books about books

Odd Girl Out: An Autistic Woman in a Neurotypical World, by Laura James

Laura James always knew that she was different. From childhood, she struggled to fit in and to cope with the world around her. A world which seemed too harsh, loud and bright, but which everyone else seemed to live in quite happily. Not until she is forty does she find out that she is in fact autistic. But as Laura struggles to come to terms with her diagnosis, she must also navigate her work and family lives and try to find a way to be herself. Read More »

A Woman is No Man, by Etaf Rum

Eighteen-year-old Deya has grown up in a strict conservative Arab household in Brooklyn. She is expected to follow tradition and so her grandparents are organising for her to meet with suitors. Although she is set on going to university and not getting married yet, she doesn’t have a choice. Women, and young women, in particular, do not have a voice and must do what is expected of them. Deya’s mother faced a similar fate when she was married to her father as a teenager and moved to America from Palestine to join his family. Is history set to repeat itself for yet another generation of young women? Read More »