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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Lucy Knight

Boys ‘mustn’t be afraid of female-led books’, says author Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris, seen here at the PinkNews Awards in October 2022
Joanne Harris said: ‘We’ve got to stop giving them the message that it’s wrong for a boy to read books about girls.’ Photograph: Suzan Moore/PA

Boys should be encouraged to read books about girls, said author Joanne Harris, because “a boy who is afraid to read a book with a girl protagonist will grow up into a man who feels that it’s inappropriate for him to listen to a woman’s voice”.

The author of Chocolat told an audience at the Hay festival in Wales that if violence against women was to be prevented, it “needs to be addressed really early, long before an actual crime happens”.

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