Published August 18, 2026!
With Virginia Woolf as a guide, the stories of eight radical 20th century women–wanderers, rebels, explorers, mentors–who made a life for themselves in spite of everything.
Everything that changed in the 20th century changed more dramatically for women. Her Own Voice tells the stories of eight radical women who responded to social oppression and helped create the modernist movement.
As we witness the strong resurgence of trad wife popularity in modern culture, this book calls on women of every generation to actively wrestle with old ideas about what it means to be “good” and even “lovable.” Anne E. Fernald, world-renowned Virginia Woolf scholar, argues that the stories we read shape the lives we imagine for ourselves, and offers these stories as possible templates for living boldly and creatively.
Events
Fri, November 13, 7:00, Tombolo Books, ST. PETERSBURG, FL, in conversation with Lauren Arrington
Sun, November 15, 11:00, Off the Page Book Festival, Sarasota Art Museum SARASOTA, FL
more coming soon….
Podcasts
The Scholar’s Armchair with John Burton, available on YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Posted September 27, 2026.
The Virginia Woolf Podcast with Karina Jakubowicz, from Literature Cambridge, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Select Books
Select Online Essays
Modernism/modernity 1.29.2025
In the Great Green Room: Margaret Wise Brown and Modernism
Public Books 11.17.2015
11 Books about Women Who Rewrote Life and Art
LitHub 8.19.2026
Women’s Fiction, New Modernist Studies, and Feminism
Johns Hopkins University 6.24.2013