With it being Women’s History Month again, we will be focusing on books about women written by women. And when I was doing my prep work for this month, it became very obvious that even in 2024, that is not the norm. This is a group biography, as has become incredibly popular in the last decade- I’m mostly a fan of them because it typically introduces us to people we’ve never “met” and draws connections we might otherwise have missed. Square Haunting by Francesca Wade follows five different female authors and scholars who all lived at Mecklenburgh Square and is a must-read.
Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars, Francesca Wade
“I like this London life . . . the street-sauntering and square-haunting.”–Virginia Woolf, diary, 1925
In the early twentieth century, Mecklenburgh Square–a hidden architectural gem in London’s Bloomsbury–was a radical address, home to students, struggling artists, and revolutionaries. And in the pivotal era between the two world wars, the lives of five remarkable women intertwined around this one address: the modernist poet H. D., detective novelist Dorothy L. Sayers, classicist Jane Harrison, economic historian Eileen Power, and author and publisher Virginia Woolf. In an era when women’s freedoms were fast expanding, they each sought a space where they could live, love, and–above all–work independently.
Why You Should Read This…
I will admit, I had heard of Dorothy L. Sayers, Eileen Power, and Virginia Woolf but knew very little of them. And H.D. and Jane Harrison were entirely unknown to me before. This biography was a fantastic introduction into each of these women and their impressive careers. (I would never have grouped them together myself but I think using their home as a common element was brilliant.) And while the anchor is their time spent at Mecklenburgh Square, she does also cover their lives before and after.
What I loved in particular about Square Haunting is Wade’s focus on how each of the five women defied societal norms and expectations of women in the first half of the twentieth century. None of the five “struck out” in the same way; they made their own paths. And there was something quite marvellous about getting lost in each of their stories.
One final element that I think clinched this book for me was the focus on other women throughout the book. We not only followed these women’s careers but their relationships with other- oftentimes their connections with other women, both professional and personal. As so often happens, I was reminded of the importance of telling women’s stories.
I listened to the audiobook of this- it is available in the Audible Plus catalogue for free with your membership as of March 2024! Corrie James’ narration was sublime, I will be looking for more of her work.
Is Square Haunting by Francesca Wade on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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