The Saucy Wenches Book Club

From beyond the grave, her mother had told her that women should not be men’s servants. They should stand alongside men as intellectual equals. And yet, somehow, she has found herself in thrall to a man who reduces her. He encourages her to think and read and write, but only in a way that agrees with his thoughts, that doesn’t question his ideas. ~ Caroline Lea, Love, Sex, and Frankenstein

“I think it’s the only form of hope we have. For our survival, I mean. What good is any other virtue without love? “In literature love is a weakness. Othello is easily manipulated by Iago because of his love for Desdemona. Anna Karenina throws herself under a train. Othello places his trust in Iago, not Desdemona. Anna Karenina’s society does not allow her to be with Vronsky. “Love is not the weakness. People get in its way. People are weak and perilous, not love.” ~ Lily King, Heart the Lover

But there are no new thoughts. They’re just old thoughts born into new moments – and in these moments is the thought: without that earth we are all finished. We couldn’t survive a second without its grace, we are sailors on a ship on a deep, dark unswimmable sea. ~ Samantha Harvey, Orbital

“My brothers have my measure when it comes to fighting and dancing and thinking and reading books, but none of them is half my equal at lying insensible in the mud.” ~ George R.R. Martin, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

“We’re supposed to be partners. But you seem to think everyone in your life is a fucking tool. And either they work or they don’t. Either they do what you want them to, or they’re useless.” ~ Lily Brooks-Dalton, Ruins

“But courage and training yourself not to feel are two different things.” ~ Mason Coile (Andrew Pyper), Exiles