Author Archives: maryjane

In honor of legendary author Doris Lessing, who died on November 17 at the age of 94, I’d like to take a moment to recognize a handful of my favorite literary bluestockings.

Photo of Doris Lessing by Elke Wetzig via Wikimedia Commons

I did say “bluestockings.”

Would Lessing be offended?

I think not.

While it almost sounds like a derogatory term (think: “blue hair”), bluestocking is actually an old English term that describes a “woman with considerable scholarly, literary, or intellectual ability or interest.”

The word appears to have originated in the 18th century, when “bluestocking” referred to worsted wool stockings worn as informal attire (in contrast to the black silk stockings that were fashionable at the time) by a specific group of intellectual women led by Elizabeth Montagu, a British social reformer, patron of the arts, literary critic, and writer.

Portrait of Elizabeth Montagu-née Robinson, artist unknown, via Wikipedia

Here are a few lovely literary bluestockings who preceded Doris Lessing.

Charlotte Brontë:

Portrait of Charlotte Brontë, 1873, by Evert A. Duyckinck (based on a drawing by George Richmond), via Wikimedia Commons

Virginia Woolf:

Portrait of Virginia Woolf, photographer unknown, via Wikimedia Commons

Beatrix Potter:

Photo of Beatrix Potter and her dog Kep, 1913, reportedly by father Rupert Potter, via Wikimedia Commons

Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Portrait of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Engraving September, 1859, by Macaire Havre, engraving by T. O. Barlow, via Wikimedia Commons

Baroness Karen Blixen (with her brother, engineer Thomas Dinesen):

Baroness Karen Blixen and her brother, engineer Thomas Dinesen, on the baroness’s African farm, 1920s, by Gottlieb Foto, via Wikimedia Commons

I’m not a huge television fan, but occasionally something so engaging comes across the screen that there’s nothing I’d rather do than snuggle up and let myself get swept away to another landscape, another time, another story.

Know what I mean?

For me, there’s no better time to get lost in a good movie than a chilly winter’s night over a holiday weekend.

So, let me share with you my recommendation for your next “me-time” movie night:

Sweet Land.

This is not a husband’s movie (read: action), or a kid’s movie (read: animation), although some of each would certainly enjoy it. At its heart, Sweet Land is a genuine woman’s movie, and a farmgirl’s movie at that.

Some of you may have seen this quiet, unsung gem (it was released in 2007 with plenty of critical acclaim, but not a lot of promotion). Those of you who haven’t are in for a treat. The story is simple, rooted in the American aftermath of World War II, but based on a short story by Will Weaver.

What counts most in this movie is its engaging cast of characters …

A gutsy German mail-order bride named Inge lands on the vast plains of Minnesota, where she is to marry Olaf, a young Norwegian immigrant farmer of few words. Forging a marriage under these conditions would have been challenging enough, but the task becomes even more complicated when the local minister forbids the marriage on the basis of Inge’s nationality (anti-German sentiment was still raging in the wake of the war), and the town banker is determined to foreclose on a neighboring friend’s farm.

I won’t say more, lest I give too much away, but I will tell you that friendship, happiness, laughter, and love are as plentiful as wheat in the fields. And the lovely Elizabeth Reaser’s portrayal of Inge adds sass and spice to a seemingly bleak northern town populated by tight-laced settlers.

Here’s the Sweet Land movie trailer for a sneak peek: