Currently reading

I am still ploughing through Melanie Phillip's The Sex-Change Society: Feminised Britain and the Neutered Male - which reads too much like a political rant. Her favourite subject seems to be that divorce is really bad for men and really good for women so it should be changed. I do agree that something needs to be done about fathers having access to their children after divorce as it seems there are some apparently very unfair decisions made about where children live and whether or not they have contact with their fathers.

I do not with agree with her contention that women divorce because they're bored. Having been through a divorce - which was relatively amicable compared with some - I can confirm that no one would do it for fun or because they were bored. To suggest just because more women instigate the legal side of divorce that all the men were unwilling to be divorced is an assumption too far.

I am also reading - by way of contrast - I was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison. Aimed at teenagers it can still be read by adults. It is an imaginative reconstruction of a few months in the life of a 16 year old Jane Austen and her cousin Jane (changed to Jenny in the book) Cooper in the form of extracts from Jenny's journal. I've read about 100 pages and found it charming and the line drawings sprinkled throughout the text (by Susan Hellard) exactly fit the story.

I am also listening to an unabridged audio book of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice read by Irene Sutcliffe. Her voice is absolutely perfect for the story and it really brings it to life for me by listening to it rather than reading it.