Our host Vick Hope is joined by entrepreneur and pioneering businesswoman Edwina Dunn OBE on this episode of Bookshelfie where they discuss the need for role models, the perils of seeking perfection and the importance of female spending. Edwina leads The Female Lead, an active community of 8 million women and educational foundation focused on celebrating the achievements and diversity of women who shape our world.
She is also the author of When She’s In the Room: How Empowering Women Empowers the World, a data-based guide that presents a road map for us all to the world we want to see. Listen to the full episode here and read on to see Edwina’s top five most influential books written by women.
This is one of the first books I read. I loved escaping into a magical world and imagining all sorts of adventures. When I made my own magical garden, I discovered a perfect old oak tree. I walk under it during every season and time of the day and imagine . . . it could happen in my garden.
This book is epic – it’s about a couple who have loved each other completely for a long time through ups and downs but in spite of their constancy and commitment , the writer explores the repercussions of how thislove has played out over the years and across children and grandchildren with some surprising consequences. It makes me realise that there is no such thing as a perfect life and that we all leave ripples and dents – some good – some not so good.
This book is original and brilliantly written. It makes me feel that there are many ways to love, many ways to live your life and that we are all different and need different support and energy throughout our own lives. This echoes my work at The Female Lead. Her voice is so original and powerful. I find it incredibly moving – and eye opening.
This is such a fascinating book and it reveals the way in which women were owned and controlled in the 16th Century. We hear the stories of midwives and childbirth through Lucrezia who fears for her own pregnancy – when so young and alone/vulnerable despite her wealth and high status in society. She takes us into the world of witches burnt at the stake for daring to use herbs and know ‘old wives’ remedies and folklore. I have just read Philippa Gregory’s book Normal Women – 900 Years of History and it has opened my eyes to how often and for how long women have been erased or marginalised or even demonised in history (burnt as witches). Fascinating.
This is a simple love story but powerful, nonetheless. It serves to remind us all how horrific the early days of covid – how much we didn’t know and the fear that we were all going to be wiped out. How quickly we forget. How quickly we are back to normal arguing politics and fighting wars. But this book speaks of that time so that we never forget. It is powerful and haunting.
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