Gaudy Night

On Friday a group of us are going to see the Taproot Theater's adaptation of Dorothy L. Sayers' novel Gaudy Night. One theater-goer, a Holden friend from Minneapolis who's here for a conference, first suggested the outing. I'd seen the advertizing, but hadn't yet determined to go. But she noted a remark I had made long ago: If I were marooned on a desert island the books I'd like would be the Bible and Gaudy Night, and not necessarily in that order!

I believe I first read Gaudy Night in 1971. The feminist movement was beginning to be in full swing, and my life had certainly been filled both with opportunities to grow as an independent young woman, and with many terrific role models. This book was the first one that described the cultural and historical issues around women in a way that was quite powerful for me.

This upcoming theater outing has made me very reflective about my own history as a woman in a "man's job," and of the whole sweep of the last century around these changes. And there is a little anxiety that we are moving a bit backwards in this regard.

So this week I'm going to re-read Gaudy Night and reflect on my reading in this blog. This morning's Seattle Times published an editorial that bears reading in the context: http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2019291724_parkercolumngloriaxml.html