One Blood
Denene Millner
Borough Press, £16.99, pp432
Millner’s multigenerational saga tells the lives of three Black American women and their struggles with the social, political and emotional forces that limit their opportunities and freedoms. In the 1960s, Grace is separated from her beloved grandmother and falls pregnant. Lolo, a victim of sexual violence, is determined to have a family of her own. Her adopted daughter, Rae, is witness to her mother’s struggles and family secrets. Exploring motherhood, marriage and the characters’ bid for survival, it’s a powerful and at times harrowing read.
Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves
Michael J Benton
Thames & Hudson, £25, pp304
Michael J Benton – a professor of vertebrate paleontology at Bristol University – provides a comprehensive account of the five mass extinction events in Earth’s history. From ancient, Precambrian Ediacaran beasts to present-day impacts of the climate crisis, he draws on advances in biology, chemistry, physics and geology to provide insights as to what the future may hold. Combining the latest paleontological research with findings from his own global expeditions, it’s a meticulously researched work.
Hysterical: Exploding the Myth of Gendered Emotions
Pragya Agarwal
Canongate, £10.95, pp464 (paperback)
In her latest fascinating book, Agarwal investigates the gendering of human emotions: while an angry woman is perceived as lacking competence, for example, an angry man is viewed as passionate. From the time of the Greeks and Romans, Agarwal reveals how tropes about women’s emotions have been used to undermine, belittle and subjugate them – attitudes that remain with us today. The result is an impassioned and highly convincing book.
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