Reader Comments: 

Who knew a feminist inspired travelogue would make such a good read? This is a really great and very accessible way to learn about Mary Wollstonecraft but it's a lot more than that. It's a very entertaining and readable tale of retracing a journey which raises so many questions about the role of women and motherhood today.

Following the life and journey of the feminist Mary Wollstonecroft with a baby in tow is no easy task but Bee Rowlatt does it with grace and determination, making this a wonderful story for all to read. She discovers things about herself and the feminist as they try to find the answers and balance between careers and babies. Also learning that love holds it all together as it flows through our lives.

In Search of Mary is nearly as moving, inspiring, intellectually stimulating, and hard to categorize as Mary Wollstonecraft herself. 

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In Search of Mary by Bee Rowlatt

Bee Rowlatt is a writer and journalist. Her current book, In Search of Mary is inspired by the life of Mary Wollstonecraft. It's published by Alma Books.

The best-selling Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad (Penguin) has been dramatised by the BBC, and translated into numerous languages. Bee won the Society of Authors’ K Blundell Trust award to complete the travels for In Search of Mary.

Bee contributed to Virago's Fifty Shades of Feminism, and has clocked over two decades at BBC World Service (now freelance). She speaks fluent Spanish and has a research background in Latin America. She's written for The Telegraph, The Independent, Grazia, Die Welt, The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Mail, and appears regularly on TV and radio.

Bee does regular workshops and events on journalism, working motherhood, and feminism. She is chair of a campaign for a memorial statue of Wollstonecraft, has four children, and is currently based in New Delhi.

 (photo by Laurie Sparham)



June's Book of the Month

In Search of Mary by Bee Rowlatt

Toddler in tow, Bee Rowlatt embarks on an extraordinary journey in search of the life and legacy of the first celebrity feminist: Mary Wollstonecraft. From the wild coasts of Norway to a naked re-birthing in California, via the blood-soaked streets of revolutionary Paris, Bee learns what drove her hero on and what’s been won and lost over the centuries in the battle for equality.

On this biographical treasure hunt she finds herself consulting a witch, a porn star, a quiet Norwegian archivist and the tenants of a blighted council estate in Leeds – getting much more than she bargained for. In her quest to find a new balance between careers and babies, Bee also discovers the importance of celebrating the radiant power of love in all our lives.