Odd Women by George Gissing

At the Sydney Writers Festival this month there was one book whose name came up time and time again, a novel published in the mid 1800s, and revered by writers such as Vivian Gornick, Hanya Yanagihara and Drusilla Mjodeska: Odd Women. So I downloaded it - free of charge for heavens sake! - on iBooks and plunged in. I could not put this book down. What a joy to read something where the conversation was all absorbing. Indeed I'm not sure I can think of another book where I have responded in such a way; it's nearly always the plot, or the character development or sometimes simply the language that carries me through a novel. But here, it was the argument. I can't compete with a genius-woman like vivian Gornick, so here's her take on the book which absolutely sums up everything I have been thinking. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/odd-women