A Room of ones Own is a book by Virginia Woolf. A book you must read. But before I talk about the book, a little backstory about why I picked up this book for my TBR.
We live in a rented apartment in a small town. It’s two bhk with a big living-dining space.
We are living here for the last 10 years and the USP of the flat is it has 3 balconies. One moderate-sized, two small ones.
The balconies make a plant lover like me thrilled. Now the problem comes when I must sit down and write. My daughter and I share the room for studying and work stuff. Plus all our art supplies and her toys.
One day my husband declared “you two need separate art rooms”. I looked up, surprised by the book I was reading.
“What? Where did that come from?”
“Oh, your stuff seems to multiply.”
This happened after I had a serious episode of Independence Day binge shopping.I thought having your own room is going to be difficult, what with only 2 rooms in the house.
But there’s no harm in planning a corner to write, right? That’s where my foldable table comes in handy.
It’s handy, just drag it anywhere and start working. But another solution is when I use the room at different times than my daughter. That works out better. Because my daughter is a budding writer too and I wouldn’t want the lack of room to come in the way of writing. Right?
But let me come back to this book which I finished in ONE sitting.
It’s a book which will speak to the woman writer in you. But even men should read it. It’s a perspective into a writer’s world..But the title is incomplete to some extent. Because right at the beginning, we have the full sentence
“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”
Virginia Woolf |A Room of One’s Own
It’s a good thing , didn’t read this book before 2014, because that would have affected my ability to even start writing because I didn’t have a room of my own. Though I was earning.
“Fiction is like a spider’s web attached ever so lightly, perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”
Virginia Woolf |A Room of One’s Own
Your fiction literally feeds off your life by default. Even when you rename people, mix up characters people know. It’s difficult to make up people’s characters and situations from thin air. That’s why how we live our lives, how we think, how we love the people we do and our relationship with money affect our thinking. It’s impossible to think about esoteric stuff before the primary needs are taken care of.
My grandmother (paternal) worked at an office. My mom, and maternal aunts, were all professionals. They struggled to manage the home, office, and child care because society is unkind to all those who strive for independence. But they didn’t give up and because of that, we do what we do today.
Who is this book for?
Any woman, a girl who wants to write and earn, must read this book. It’s timeless because it makes us reflect on how far we have come.
It’s outstanding how women all over the world think similar things, even when separated by time and geography. Some things seem to have a life of their own.
Grab this book today.
Read all about my favourite books here.
