Six Degrees of Separation - June 2017

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme that was started by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman. It is currently hosted by Kate on her booksaremyfavouriteandbest blog, and normally runs on the first Saturday of the month. The main idea of this meme is to form a chain of books by linking something they have in common, kind of like forming a word ladder with common letters, and everyone begins their chains with the same book. Other than that, there are no set rules. You get to make your own!

This month, we are starting with Shopgirl by Steve Martin. This is another one that I haven’t read, or until now even heard about! What I know about it comes from the synopsis at Goodreads; a young woman is a transplant to California and working in a department store.

This reminds me of a novel I read a few years ago, Band of Sisters by Cathy Gohlke. The protagonist in this one, a young immigrant from Ireland, also works in a prestigious department store. Along the way, she stumbles upon a sex-trafficking crime ring.

Stumbling upon a group of criminals is also the fate of the the young protagonist of Against The Tide by Elizabeth Camden. This time the crime involves opium.

Though it wasn’t a crime at the time,opium was also a factor in a novel our book club read a couple of years ago, The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. This one is set on a southern plantation in the pre-Civil War era, and slavery was an important theme.

Slavery was also an important theme in another novel my book club read, The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. This is a fictionalized story of the life of Sarah Grimke and her sister Angelina, two women who even though they grew up in a slave-owning family in the south, became active in the abolitionist movement..

Clarina Nichols by Diane Eickhoff, is a middle school biography about a woman who was also active in the abolitionist movement. During her work she became acquainted with the Grimke sisters. Clarina was also active in the women’s rights movement, particularly property rights and voting rights.

Terrible Virtue by Ellen Feldman is a fictionalized story about Margaret Sanger, another woman who devoted her life to women’s rights. Margaret’s focus was on reproductive rights and she is considered the founder of Planned Parenthood.

And there’s my chain; from Shopgirl to Terrible Virtue in six moves, all featuring women with a cause! Visit the current Six Degrees post on Kate’s blog to link up your chain and see what others have done with Room. Next month we will start with Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. Be sure to come back next month to see what I do with it!