Watching Me, Watching You

‘Watching Me, Watching You’ was Fay Weldon’s first collection of short stories. They vary widely in theme, while remaining avowedly feminist, sometimes bitter, sometimes angry, yet always handled with wit, irony and courage. A sense of sisterhood is one of the most important qualities a woman may possess and its loss, as in one particular story, ‘Alopecia’, can bring tragedy. On the other hand, in ‘Threnody’, a women’s commune can be gently mocked, and the failings of the leading characters are human rather than masculine.

Fay Weldon’s observation is always wonderfully acute and ‘Watching Me, Watching You’ is dominated throughout by her humour and intensity of purpose, giving to these stories a marvellous strength and unity.