Announcing two new British Library Women Writers titles!

As it’s International Women’s Day, the British Library publishing team have been putting an especial focus on the Women Writers series today – hurrah! And that has culminated in unveiling the next two books in the series. They’ll be coming out in May, so there’s a couple months to wait – but it’ll be worth it, promise.

Tension by E.M. Delafield

This is one of EMD’s very best novels, in my opinion. I recommended it because I love Delafield and feel the series definitely needed something by her – and this one shows her funny and thoughtful sides perfectly. It was written a decade before the Provincial Lady, and the tension at the heart of it is rumours that a new typist at a school might have an affair with one of the teachers. It has a lot to say about rumours and morality, but it’s also a delight – look out for bohemian author Iris and her novel Why, Ben!, and two of the most life-like and irritating children in fiction.

Mamma by Diana Tutton

It’s no secret that I adore Tutton’s Guard Your Daughters, and was delighted when Persephone reprinted it – partly, I think, on my recommendation. While that is undoubtedly her masterpiece, she was not a one-trick pony. Mamma is about a widowed woman, Joanna, inviting her adult daughter Libby to live with her – and, of course, she brings her husband too. Steven is much closer to Joanna’s age than Libby’s, and they also discover they have a great deal in common. The prospect of an illicit love affair looms…

I’m really delighted that these two are coming out in the series, as both are quite hard to get hold of at the moment and deserve a far wider audience. Watch this space!

18 thoughts on “Announcing two new British Library Women Writers titles!

  • March 8, 2021 at 9:20 pm
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    Exciting!! I am very much looking forward to both of these. What a fabulous series this is turning out to be.

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:27 pm
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      Thanks Ali!!

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:27 pm
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      Yay!

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  • March 8, 2021 at 11:09 pm
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    I’m so looking forward to reading both of these books.

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:27 pm
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      Excellent :D

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  • March 9, 2021 at 12:39 pm
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    Hopefully, by the time we can travel again and I can get to London, I’ll be able to pick these up (along with a couple others…)!

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:27 pm
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      Hopefully nearer to home too!!

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  • March 9, 2021 at 5:35 pm
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    Both of these sound like wonderful reads, especially the Tutton (I tried unsuccessfully a few years ago to locate some of her work). Great recommendations for the series!

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:26 pm
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      Thanks!

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:26 pm
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      Looking forward to your thoughts!

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:22 pm
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      Hurrah!

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  • March 14, 2021 at 7:45 pm
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    I am looking forward to these, Simon. I was thrilled when I learned you had selected Rose Macaulay’s Dangerous Ages for this series. Honestly, I need these well-written women’s books to get me through the rather strange days we are experiencing. And, by the way, I saw your series reviewed in the TLS. Congrats to you and the British Library Women’s Series!

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:20 pm
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      Thank you Kat! Dangerous Ages is so wonderful – I’m hoping for more Macaulay in the series at some point. And yes, what a thrill for it to be in the TLS!

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  • March 15, 2021 at 6:54 am
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    I read Mama a few years ago. My library actually had a copy! I thought it very different from Guard Your Daughters…and yet is also has that rather uncomfortable edge. And it is wonderful that so many authors are getting reprinted and introduced to new readers as a result of this series.

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    • March 18, 2021 at 3:19 pm
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      Very different, isn’t it? On my first read, I was a bit disappointed by the difference – but second time around, really liked it on its own merits.

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