The Movements of Women

Women’s Fiction From 1945 to Today by Deborah Philips is a sojourn through decades of fiction written by women for women. Philips provides a feminist review of British and American narratives and examines why women turn to fiction and, to a much lesser extent, to memoir, in order to learn how to be successful in appearance, romance, business, and motherhood. Philips states in the introduction that her critical review of these novels and autobiographies “offers an understanding of contemporary feminism and femininity.” Each chapter provides excerpts from the texts discussed to support the central theme of women in search of the answer to: what does it mean to be a woman?

After WWII ended, and into the 1950s, according to Philips, fiction written by women and read by women focused on “a generation of men who are unable to mourn, and who therefore remain stuck in melancholia.” The heroines of these narratives attempt to heal these men via the domestic realm of a home in the country and a secure family life. For Philips, the writing of the “post-war period is preoccupied with what now constitutes an ideal romance, and with new variations of the hero figure.” For example, the hero and heroine in Monica Dickens’s The Happy Prisoner (1946) are shown at the close of the narrative to be “ideals of masculinity and femininity.” Novels of the 1960s then went on to explore the clash between a woman desiring to fulfill her role as a single mother and at the same time remaining independent. Philips highlights narratives that expose the pressures on the single mother to lie about the absent husband and the father of her baby, and how they turn, not to other women for support and advice, but instead to magazine ads and TV commercials for definitions and images of pregnancy and relationships with men. In all novels discussed in this chapter, the female protagonists “acknowledge their sexual ignorance.” One example used is The L-Shaped Room (1962) by Lynne Reid Banks. In this novel, the three main characters include a Jewish male author, a black and gay musician, and a single white woman who becomes pregnant. All three characters are examples of those ostracized by society.

In the 1970s, the narrative of choice for women readers came to be known as the college novel. In this particular narrative, the heroine is surrounded by female friends who attend the same university and who are experiencing sexual activity for the first time. Both the American and British novels of this decade focus on women’s concerns about “contraception, abortion, domestic violence and lesbian sexuality.” The heroines of these narratives focus more on their sexual desires or curiosity rather than on their studies. These young women struggle to establish a lifestyle that is both sexually and intellectually satisfying. You Must Be Sisters (1978) by Deborah Moggach features a young woman who chooses to rent a room while in college rather then live in a dormitory. She becomes pregnant and has an abortion. By the end of the novel, the heroine chooses to return to her family rather then live independently. For Philips, the college novel “deals directly with issues that were pertinent to women’s liberation.” Finally, women were reading fiction with which they could directly connect. Rona Jaffe’s 1979 novel Class Reunion follows the lives of women for two decades after their graduation from college. All women featured in the novel have married and given up on succeeding intellectually. For Philips, Jaffe’s heroines, while in college, only enjoy “a temporary respite from the realities of inequality.” Moving on to the 1980s introduces that decade’s sex and shopping novel. The heroines of these narratives are on their own in successful careers in high-end professions such as “fashion and jewelry design, publishing, and international chains of hotels and department stores.” Zoe Fairbairn’s novel Closing (1987) marks a transition in women’s fiction that focuses more on individual success—what Philips describes as the conflict “between feminist...