MARNA, GALLEYS AND TRAD WIVES

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

Galley Girl: In publishing an advanced copy of a book is known as a “Galley”. And this week traveling from SAV to LA, I was a full galley girl, nose-deep in an early copy of Once More From the Top by Emily Layden. It's a novel about an iconic pop singer and what happens when a childhood secret comes to light at the top-top-top of her fame. I haven't finished it, so I'll give you my full review next week...but what I'll say for now is that I spent the weekend with a bunch of well-read Swifties telling them how much they'll love this book...pre-order if you're feeling intrigue-y.

What I'm writing: Ok, Ok, Ok, I said character sketches were happening last week and I did officially...no new character sketches for That Second Novel because I was deep in the prep for the annual trip to see my real-life characters of girlfriends. But I'm on it ;)

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon:

One of my galpals sent me a rager of a voice note about the article in The Times “Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children)”. It's a deep dive into Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman asking if this is empowering for women, or not. If you want commentary or debate on this article, look no further than...the entire f*cking internet. My hot take on the topic is that we are empowered, as women, when we have choice at a system level. Feminism is (for me) the fight and the belief that we should have options – over how we live our lives, about what happens with our body. Someone in a highly religious patriarchal household doesn't have those options, and that's exactly the feeling I got from this reporting. I texted my galpal, “I break for her”. It sorta seems she might already be breaking under the weight of this life, too. But who is to know, and who am I to judge? Because what we see from Instagram, TikTok, and in-depth reporting is still only a sliver of her full picture.

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

Have you ever had a Marma treatment? It's a form of Indian acupuncture similar to reflexology. Woooo buddy did it get some energy flowing. I had some wild shivers, and then after lots of chats and Thai food with my bestie, I was down for the count. I've always been interested in ayurvedic medicine, and since working with a somatic therapist I have a new appreciation for using the body as a doorway to my own understanding and knowledge. Marma felt like an entire reboot to the nervous system, and if you're interested call Katie.

Woman on xx