The Beauty of Choice by Wendy Steiner is an immersive journey through literature and art, focussed on the female aesthetic, as the creator and the subject and how it has directed progression through liberal values

I don't agree with all of Steiner's perspectives, but what I respect is the observation, analyses and meditation on the subject matter and the cerebral development of concepts that we are all able to reflect upon. This being more and more essential in the current direction of contemporary soceity

Steiner travels through a wide array of examples and Heroinat was perhaps the most poignant piece for me. Probably because that was the intention, to memorialise the atrocities against women in the Kosovo war. It was a piece with a defined intention and not a matter of perception as to the mindset of the creator

The writing style has a definitive flow. It tackles difficult subject matter with strength and aplomb that is capptivating and empowering

Steiner is an incredibly relevant voice in literature and art today and there are a significant number of reflections within The Beauty of Choice that can be explored further in respect of a woman's right to autonomy and agency in respect of her own body and life

Thank you very much to Netgalley, Comlumbia University Press and Wendy Steiner for this outstanding ARC/ My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own