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Early congratulations to the talented Mira Nair's son.

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I recently finished this novel after having it recommended as an example of quality literary fiction. The plot follows 4 friends from college through their lives centering mainly around Jude, an enigmatic figure unwilling to reveal his extensive childhood trauma. I found the writing beautiful, evocative, and perverse.

Spoilers under cut if you care about that sort of thing.

Imagine my surprise when I start to see multiple reviewers trashing the book because of the "bad ending." Certainly, the book needs a massive trigger warning as nearly every chapter contains extensive descriptions of cutting, child abuse, rape, DV, and finally suicide, but I can't help but feel these poor reviews are only because the author is a woman. After all, suicide is nothing new in the world of literature. Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Eugenides, Flaubert, Camus, Wallace, Hemingway, Huxley, Dostoevsky, and Pushkin all wrote characters who killed themselves, without the insane backlash that this book received.

Despite the book's heavy themes and suicide ending, I would never call this book tragic or even sad. The largest section of this book is titled "The Happy Years," and this is without irony. Jude is happy during this time, albeit still struggling with his past and self-harming. Jude is unconditionally loved and supported throughout his adult life, and to read about such a troubled person being so loved is genuinely heart-warming and beautiful.

It seems that many reviewers felt that the titular "little life" was the 15 years of child abuse, rather than these "happy years." In this way, I think that they are much like Jude, focusing too much on the trauma and unable to even feel all the love and goodness in this novel.

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Lina Poletti (1885-1971)

Was an Italian writer, poet and feminist. Considered one of the first italian woman to openly declare her lesbianism.

She used to wear masculine clothes and was a quite rebellious woman for her epoch.

In 1908 she attended the First National Congress of Women. This is where she met met the well-known writer Sibilla Aleramo, who shared her commitment to social change.

Both quickly got involved in a love affair, though Aleramo was living with a well-known poet Giovanni Cena at the time. Poletti and Cena didn’t like it and the two of them eventually left Aleramo.

The following year, Poletti married Santi Muratori, the director of the Biblioteca Classense in Ravenna, though they did not live together.

Shortly after their marriage, she met Eleonora Duse, at the time a popular stage actress, and became involved with her. The two moved in together in a house located in Florence, Italy, where Poletti started working on plays for Duse.

From 1918 to 1958 Poletti was in a relationship with the Countess Eugenia Rasponi, a noblewoman and ardent fellow feminist.

They later moved to Rome where they attended theosophical and philosophical meetings and traveled throughout Europe and Asia seeking answers for existence.

Poletti was unable to write during the twenty years of fascism in Italy, as she and Rasponi were constantly under the scrutiny of authorities and their home was often raided.

Poletti died on 12 December 1971 in Sanremo, in the northern coastal region of Liguria.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Into the Dark: Tentacles

Part of a horror anthology of feature-film length episodes usually centered around a holiday. Tentacles is a psychosexual horror directed by Clara Aranovich released for Valentines Day.

Tentacles was my favorite, but the Into the Dark series as a whole is worth checking out since one third of the episodes are directed by women including: New Year New You- Sophia Takal, All that we Destroy- Chelsea Stardust, Culture Shock- Gigi Saul Guerrero, Pure- Hannah Macpherson, My Valentine- Maggie Levin, Delivered and Blood Moon- Emma Tammi.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Umma

Umma is the directoral debut of Iris K. Shim. This horror film is about immigration, intergenerational trauma, and the fear of becoming your parents.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Near Dark

Near Dark is an American Neo-Western Horror film co-written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. This is another cult film that follows a young man who falls in with a group of vampire drifters in Oklahoma.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Hatching

Hatching is a psychological body horror film by Hanna Bergholm. The film centers on 12 year old Tinja desperate to please her Mom who runs a popular family-blog. Tinja finds a mysterious egg and takes it home to care for it, but the thing that hatches acts on Tinja's most violent impluses.

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Female Directed Horror Films: The Lure

Taking place in an alternate universe 1980s Poland The Lure is a horror musical directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska.* Loosely based on the Hans Cristian Eriksen version of The Little Mermaid a pair of man-eating Mermaid sisters become popstars of a seedy nightclub.

Pronounced: Ag-nye-zhka Smoh-chinska

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Female Directed Horror Films: The Love Witch

Written, produced, and directed by Anna Biller, The Love Witch is an horror-comedy. It is described as a modern-day witch casting deadly spells to get men to fall in love with her though it really has more of a 60-70s vibe. The real horror is losing your soul in the process of turning yourself into the ultimate male fantasy.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Bulbbul

Possibly the most colorful horror film, Bulbbul is written and directed by Anvita Dutt. In the 1880 Bengal presidency a child bride is sent to live on an estate that is stalked by a demon.

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Female Directed Horror Films: The Velvet Vampire

Directed by Stephanie Rothman; Lee and his wife Susan are invited to a secluded estate in the desert by a mysterious bisexual vampire. Nestled somewhere between an exploitation film and horror the film's inability to truly commit to either genre made it a commercial failure, but it has had some noteriety as a cult film.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Relic

Relic is a psychological horror film by Natalie Erika James. With almost an entirely female cast the film follows a mother and daughter who are tasked with caring for their mother/grandmother and her decaying home.

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Female Drirected Horror: Amulet

Amulet is a film written and directed by Romola Garai. A homeless ex-soldier is given a place to stay with Magda and her ailing mother in exchange for work done around the house. However he begins to suspect everything is not as it seems and something else may be living there as well. Though about a soldier, it is not a jingoist film.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Fresh

Fresh is directed by Mimi Cave and its screenplay written by Lauryn Kahn. Described as a horror film about the perils of modern dating, Noa meets her dream boyfriend. Its not until she gets to his house that she discovers her new man's strange appetites. A story no doubt familiar to many women.

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Female Directed Horror Films: Bird Box

Bird Box is a Lovecraftian/Cosmic Horror film directed by Susanne Bier. The earth is invaded by entities which cause people to kill themselves when they look at the entities. Malorie has to protect two children and get them to a new shelter without the use of her sight.

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Female Directed Horror Films: The Accursed (2021)

The Accursed (2021) is a Balkan horror film written and directed by Elizabeta Vidovic and Katheryn Michelle. A witch named Hana is caught sleeping with her best friend's husband and is given a death curse that threatens her whole bloodline. Despite frantic cover-up efforts the curse comes calling 22 years later.

The wedding scene has some admittedly painful acting but if you can get through that its fun with a nearly exclusive female cast.

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Female Directed Horror Films: You Are Not My Mother

You are not my mother is an Irish fantasy-horror film written and directed by Kate Dolan. Borrowing from folklore, the film is about a girl named Char whose mother suddenly goes missing. Her mother returns, but with a radically different personality and something off about her.