Rain Dodging

This is a wonderfully absorbing and surprisingly entertaining account of Susan Godwin’s sojourn in Oxford and England to study the coterie of female writers at the court of Mary of Modena, James II’s Catholic wife in the English court of the seventeenth century. Godwin came to academia relatively late in life and her book makes numerous engaging autobiographical diversions into her very colourful past, which included distressing experiences of abuse. Coruscatingly candid and amusing, this is an unusual amalgam of intellectual history and confession.
Godwin’s delight in returning to Oxford and the frisson of pleasure that any scholar will feel on taking their seat at a favourite library, surrounded by volumes and desperate to unlock their secrets and treasures to understand and reveal the past - this certainly resonates with this reader and reviewer! She is an Anglophile and delights in the eccentricities and unconventionalities of life in England that the native inhabitant may occasionally find frustrating Nevertheless, there are some of rather fundamental historical inaccuracies – Godwin occasionally refers to James’s wife as Mary II, yet the spouse of a reigning monarch is never designated by their number; Mary II in fact was the joint monarch with William III of Orange. And there are errors in spelling of English places and terminology (Chippingham rather than Chippenham and the National Health System rather than Service, and the Berkshire town Slough is definitely not pronounced “Sluff”!) Still, this is a great read, a combination of academic research enthusiasm and autobiographical integrity.

I loved this book!! I requested it because British royal family history is a hobby of mine. But this book is so much more! Interspersed throughout the author's research trip to Oxford is her own life story; which is incredible! I was amazed to read her connection to 1980s country music and fashion. Her antidotes contained names of artists I knew, at venues and events I recognized! Godwin is a talented writer and the book is interesting and well written. I would recommend Rain Dodging not only for the English connection but also as an engaging look at one woman's life and her connection to women throughout the centuries.

I enjoyed this. A really creative account of the Stuart monarchy and also a parallel account of feminism through history. There is also an interesting personal arc weaving through the story. Fascinating.