- Memoirs of a Spacewoman
-
Memoirs of a Spacewoman Author(s) Naomi Mitchison Country Great Britain Language English Genre(s) Science Fiction Publisher Victor Gollancz Ltd Publication date 1962 Media type Print (Hardcover& Paperback) Pages 176 pp Memoirs of a Spacewoman is a science fiction novel by Naomi Mitchison, a sister of the famous biologist J.B.S. Haldane. It was first published in 1962 by Victor Gollancz Ltd.
Contents
Contents
The Spacewoman in question is a scientist and explorer. It is set many centuries in the future, though no dates are given. Humans have explored many worlds in a number of different galaxies. The quest is for knowledge and to be helpful: there is a strict rule against 'interference'.
The narrator, whose name is Mary, is a specialist in 'communication' - a kind of telepathy. She operates in a society where woman are just as likely as men to be leaders, though she herself prefers not to lead. They also do pretty much as they please as regards sex and reproduction:
- "I think of my friends and the fathers of my children. I think about my children, but I think less about my four dear normals than I think about Viola. And I think about Ariel."
Viola is a haploid human, conceived as a result of sexual interaction with a Martian - Martians being hermaphrodite. Ariel is an alien creature that could be seen either as a parasite or a kind of child.
There are no space-opera thrills and fights: rather there are a number of different worlds with interesting biologies. In one case there is an ethical problem concerning some caterpillars and butterflies, both intelligent. Attitudes about sex and about alien cultures are similar to those of the New Wave, though it is not normally classed as part of it.
Publication history
- 1962, Great Britain, Victor Gollancz Ltd, hardcover
- January 1964, Great Britain, Four Square Books, paperback
- June 1973, United States, Berkley Medallion, ISBN 0-425-02345-1, paperback
- 1976, Great Britain, New English Library, ISBN 0-450-02977-8, hardcover
- April 1977, Great Britain, New English Library Master SF series, ISBN 0-450-03000-8, paperback, with introduction by Hilary Rubinstein
- July 1985, Great Britain, The Women's Press, ISBN 0-7043-3970-6, paperback
- February 2011, United States, Kennedy & Boyd, ISBN 978-1-84921-035-5 trade paperback
References
External links
- Short excerpt
- Review with brief summary
- Memoirs of a Spacewoman publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Categories:- 1960s science fiction novel stubs
- 1962 novels
- 1960s science fiction novels
- British science fiction novels
- Feminist science fiction novels
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
