Down Among the Women

A classic from beloved national treasure Fay Weldon sees four women break the shackles of patriarchy and domesticity in 1950s London, from the author of The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil "Down among the women. What a place to be!" So begins Fay Weldon's novel, opening onto 1950s London, where Wanda, a former radical who has left her husband, has raised her daughter Scarlet to be as independent as she is. But twenty-year-old Scarlet has already had one abortion, and is about to become a single mother. There's also Scarlet's friends: Sylvia, a born victim; respectable Jocelyn, hopelessly trapped in her dull, bourgeois existence; Audrey, who finally breaks out of her conventional life; and Helen, beautiful, vibrant, and doomed. Over the course of twenty years, they will discover it's never too late to become the women they are meant to be. Praise for Fay Weldon: 'A national treasure' Literary Review'Wickedly stylish. Bursting with intelligence and fire' Daily Telegraph'Prolific and provocative, Weldon shines brightest in the league table of British women novelists' Time Out'A queen of words' Caitlin Moran