Helen Taylor has published books on women’s writing, American southern culture, and women fiction readers. Her latest much-acclaimed work is Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of Our Lives. Her best-known works focus on popular writing and culture: Scarlett’s Women: Gone With the Wind and its Female Fans, The Daphne du Maurier Companion, and Circling Dixie: Contemporary Southern Culture through a Transatlantic Lens. Her new book is Childless by Choice: The Meaning and Legacy of a Child-free Life.
She taught English and American literature at three universities – West of England, Warwick and Exeter, where she was Head of English and is now Emeritus Professor. She has published widely on the literature and culture of the American South, as well as British and American women’s writing. For many years, she has been a Chair, Curator and participant in many literary festivals, including Bath, Cheltenham, Oxford, Fowey, Budleigh Salterton and Clifton, and she was the first Director of the Liverpool Literature Festival. She is currently writing a book on Daphne du Maurier for the series ‘Writers and Their Works’. She lives in Bristol.
My New Book
coming soon....
What does it mean to be childless by choice?
For thousands of years childbearing has been seen as central to women’s lives. But in recent decades, many women have chosen not to become mothers.
In her new book, Helen Taylor investigates what it means to be childless by choice. Part memoir, part cultural history, it interweaves personal experience with thought-provoking analysis to challenge our assumptions about family, fulfilment and female identity.
Drawing on a lifetime of experience as a feminist academic who chose not to have children, Taylor examines the joys and complexities of her path less travelled. She traces how attitudes toward childlessness have evolved – and sometimes haven’t. With unflinching honesty, she confronts the challenges of aging without children while celebrating the freedom and opportunities her choice has provided.
Through interviews with other women, analysis of cultural attitudes and examination of literature and media, Taylor builds a rich tapestry of what it means to live outside traditional family structures. She explores thorny questions about legacy, purpose and belonging in a world that primarily defines women through motherhood.
Taylor’s warm, intelligent voice guides us through territory that has too long been shadowed by judgement and misconception, offering wisdom, solidarity and a new framework for understanding the many ways to live a meaningful life.
Publicist: Ruth Killick publicity@ruthkillick.co.uk 07880 703741
My Other Books
2019
2015
2014 (1989)
2007
2000
1996
1989