Moments of Truth: Twelve Twentieth-Century Women Writers

‘She shoots from the hip with a cigarette in one hand, and charms us with her silvery wit. More importantly, her gift to us is that she is herself such an astute reader.’ Deborah Levy, Independent

‘Strong and supple enough to loop together all her dancing ideas. Like Ariadne unrolling her ball of string, she guides us into the labyrinth, this time the one with the modernist epiphany at its heart.’ Michèle Roberts, Independent on Sunday

‘She writes brilliantly...Lorna Sage seems to be coming to her own moment of truth in these essays, rejecting the critical dogma of the “death of the author” on which she had been nurtured and finding the courage to write in her own voice.’ Elaine Showalter, The Times

Accessible, jargon-free, and with her characteristic clear intelligence, Lorna Sage looks at the ways in which pre-war women writers, some famous, some less well known, invented themselves as authors in the face of the rigid conceptions of feminine creativity which prevailed at the time.

Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, Jean Rhys, Christina Stead, Djuna Barnes, Violet Trefusis, Jane Bowles, Simone de Beauvoir, Christine Brooke-Rose, Iris Murdoch, Angela Carter.

‘Moments of Truth’ demonstrates Lorna Sage’s characteristic clear intelligence and sheer versatility as a writer, bringing together introductions to much-loved 20th-century classics, fiercely intelligent essays and insightful, free-thinking journalism. A mixture of close reading with a breathtaking sensitivity to nuances, and fascinating biographical exploration, ‘Moments of Truth’ sends you back to discover or rediscover these twelve writers.