Discussions at Books & Books
Antiquarium Room
265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables

Monday, Jan. 13, 8-9:30 p.m.

Facilitated by FIU Faculty Book Club Members

Book Selections:
WOMEN WRITING ABOUT WAR
The Mortal Storm by Phyllis Bottome
Bottome's anti-fascist novel, recently reprinted, an important book in its time, is recalled as the document that "warned the West about the Nazi menace." The feminist protagonist, a medical student, forges a courageous struggle to escape the Nazism in her family and Munich circle. The filmed version (starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan) is still studied for its reception history of censorship, particularly as one of seven films included in the senate hearing that investigated prominent Hollywood figures accused of leading the U. S. into WW II. (Introduction by M. Hoder-Salmon and Phyllis Lassner)

The Trap by Ana Maria Matute
In her powerful novel, The Trap, Ana Maria Matute explores the ties that bind family, society and culture. Through her compelling use of a powerful feminine first-person narrative, Matute highlights the experience of women during the tumultuous years of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Matute delicately weaves a feminist subtext into the larger context of Spain's difficulties in dealing with gender, class and cultural distinctions. She draws from her own experiences to paint a literary picture of the conflict between two groups: the
people she calls the merchants (who deny the vitality of life) and the soldiers (who believe in tolerance). The Trap examines the lasting effects of social upheaval, discrimination and lives trapped in conflict. Matute is a novelist well deserving of her literary acclaim and is ably translated in her latest work by Robert Nugent and Maria Jose de la Camara, bringing the vitality and power of Matute's fiction to an English speaking readership.

Facilitators:

AURORA MORCILLO, Ph.D.
Women's Studies & History

MARILYN HODER-SALMON, Ph.D.
English