Wild Rumpus Books summarizes, "Harriet Hatfield begins a new life at the age of 60 after her lover of 30 years has died and left her comfortably well off. But when Harriet opens a bookstore for women in a blue-collar neighborhood of Boston, she is viciously attacked for her lesbianism. Ms. Sarton's powerful portrayal of the shy, reserved woman's battle becomes a moving statement about the place of the outsider in our world-and the necessity of following the human heart."
The Book Snobs Gathering
Marta hosted the Snobs gathering on Monday, September 27. She served sandwich wraps, pasta salad and a variety of cheeses followed by yummy peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
The Education of Harriet Hatfield was an excellent book for discussion. The book was banned from high schools because of it's frank portrayal of homosexuality and the widespread AIDS paranoia of the 1980's. We discussed the changes in societal perceptions of homosexuality. We also talked about the characters in this book and the role that each of them played in developing Harriet's character. One of the final questions of the evening was whether we would allow or teenagers to read this book and whether we would also want it banned. The consensus was that we would definitely allow our own teens to read it, but would need to be ready to answer questions and guide discussions with them.
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