Join the Feminine Rage Bookclub & Read "When We Lost Our Heads"
Cameron Capello
Join the Feminine Rage Book Club to read When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill!
The novel is set in 19th century Montreal, where two best friends’ passionate connection leads them from boarding schools to brothels as they explore the intensity of their relationship.Who founded the Feminine Rage Book Club?
Olivia, or miss_ipkiss_reads on TikTok, is the founder of the Feminine Rage Book Club, which strives to highlight strong female protagonists and give women a space to connect and read together. "I find it empowering and cathartic to read female characters that are angry and imperfect," she told us in an interview."I think women feel validated in their own frustrations when they read about women verbalizing this rage and acting against the societal expectations we wrestle with daily. Not to mention we are currently living through a moment of unrest and there are many things to be upset about, why not read about women who act on that anger instead of bottling it up?"
While always a reader, Olivia reconnected with her love for literature during the pandemic. Needing a space to express her theories and frustrations with the "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series by Sarah J. Maas, she discovered BookTok. She began making videos about her opinions on the popular fantasy series. When her video, “Top 10 Books of 2021,” reached over 1 million views, Olivia’s fanbase grew exponentially and gave her a platform for lively debates about her favorite books. “I needed a place to put my growing love of books, and TikTok just happened to be the perfect place to do that," she said.What is When We Lost Our Heads about?
"Every decent friendship comes with a drop of hatred. But that hatred is like honey in the tea. It makes it addictive."― Heather O'Neill
Charismatic Marie Antoine is the richest man’s daughter in 19th century Montreal. She has everything she wants, except for a best friend—until clever, scheming Sadie Arnett moves to the neighborhood. Immediately united by their passion and intensity, Marie and Sadie attract and repel each other in ways that thrill them both. Their games soon become tinged with risk, even violence. They are forced to separate by the adults around them and spend years engaged in acts of alternating innocence and depravity. And when a singular event brings them back together, the dizzying effects will upend the city. You can explore Montreal in this video with Heather O'Neill.https://youtu.be/xkKni_61f_When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill Book Reviews
Ever since her debut novel, Heather O'Neill has charmed critics with her prose. Here are a few reviews of her most recent book."I feel a personal connection to the book since it takes place in my city. It’s also one of my favorite releases of the year and I needed a place to talk about it. The discussion around feminine desire, class, and gender helped add nuance to my own definition of feminine rage and I knew it was a book that would resonate with a lot of my Booktok friends. ― Olivia
"The historical world of the late 1800s that O’Neill recreates is fascinating and highly entertaining due to this sassy point of view ... The plot satisfies with twists and turns to the end, but it’s the audaciousness of spirit emboldening most of her female characters that makes this novel shine." ― New York Journal of Books
O’Neill is often praised for her world-building and complex explorations of human nature, but not enough kudos are given to the immense amount of research she undertakes to form the invisible scaffolding of her more recent novels and to synthesize her personal curiosities without getting lost in a fairy trail of facts.― Quill & Quire
"O’Neill’s sharp descriptions and her prose’s archaic slant successfully immerse readers in the period. It’s a little bumpy, but overall this distinctive, character-driven story is delightfully perverse."― Publishers Weekly
Read more Heather O’Neill books on Fable
Heather O’Neill is a novelist, poet, short-story writer, screenwriter, and essayist. She’s published several books since 2006 to international critical acclaim. You can read them all on Fable!type: embedded-entry-inline id: 5IFsyqkDAYrC3kBWogwZQWGreat Quotes from When We Lost Our Heads
As you read “When We Lost Our Heads” on Fable, make sure to highlight your favorite passages. If you share these quotes on social media,“The female body was particularly absorbent when it came to shame. If you wrung out any woman’s body, you would discover it was soaked in shame.” ― Heather O'Neill
“Loving everyone is the same thing as loving nobody at.” ― Heather O'Neill
“She felt jealousy pounding like enemy soldiers at the gate.” ― Heather O'Neill
“Her words squiggled onto the page like the laces of a girl running for her life with untied boots.” ― Heather O'Neill
“Her heart leaped like a frog out of a child’s fist.” ― Heather O'Neill, When We Lost Our Heads
When was Heather O’Neill discovered?
Heather O’Neill was discovered on a Canadian radio program, “Canada Reads,” in which authors, creatives, and celebrities debate books and eventually choose one title that the whole country should read. Musician John K. Samson, who had won the prestigious award the previous year, picked O’Neil’s debut novel, “Lullabies for Little Criminals,” and she came out victorious.Is any of Heather O’Neill’s work adapted for movies or TV?
Yes! Her 2008 short story, “The End of Pinky,” was adapted by Montreal filmmaker Claire Blanchet and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival as an animated short in 2013. In 2021, director Tassie Cameron began working on adapting O’Neill’s 2017 novel, "The Lonely Hearts Hotel," into a TV show. The story follows two orphans living in 1920s Montreal who grow up to become prodigies: one in both piano and the other in dance and comedy. Although separated as teenagers during the Great Depression, they eventually find their way back to one another and continue their dream of leading a circus unlike any other. Brimming with seduction, mystery, and the thrill of the city, "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" will undoubtedly make an excellent show.Keep reading on Fable
Reading together with friends, family, and co-workers is a great way to enjoy the full mental and physical benefits of reading. We call this “social reading.” The Fable app is built for social reading, with tools for sharing highlights, comments, insights, links, pictures, and videos as you read together.Find a book club to join for free!
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Cameron Capello