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Hey, everyone. Welcome to the show. Great to

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be here. So I wanted to start with something

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maybe a bit provocative. What happens when the

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life you, you know, meticulously planned just

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starts to unravel and it reveals desires you

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never even knew you had? That's a powerful question.

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And it really hits the emotional core of the

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book we're diving into today. Exactly. We're

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talking about Laura Anthony's novel, The Women

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on Platform 2. Yeah, it's contemporary fiction,

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but it has these really interesting elements

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of sort of historical reflection woven in. Right.

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So the main story follows Sworz, right? Present

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day. She's grappling with some pretty big life

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choices. And then almost out of the blue, she

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finds this scrapbook. The scrapbook belonging

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to Mora. Exactly. Mora, an Irish woman living

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back in the mid 20th century. And that's the

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hook, isn't it? how Anthony weaves these two

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stories together. It really is. Through Maura's

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scrapbook, her entries, swores, and, well, us

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as readers, we get this really intimate look.

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Into what life was like. Yeah, the societal pressures,

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the very personal struggles women faced in Ireland

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back then. It's quite eye -opening. It feels

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like a really clever way to explore how women's

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lives have... you know, changed or maybe haven't

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changed in some ways. Absolutely. And one thing

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I think the book does exceptionally well is the

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portrayal of Maura's inner world. It's just so

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vivid. Oh, completely. You really feel like you

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understand her evolving perspective on her own

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life, the limitations she faced. Anthony makes

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her experiences feel so immediate, so real, even

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though they're set, what, decades ago? Decades,

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yeah. And what I also really appreciated was

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the subtlety. The way she draws parallels and

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contrasts, too, between Solaris' modern problems

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and Maura's historical ones. Yes. It makes you

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stop and think, doesn't it? It does. Like, how

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much has actually changed? Yeah. And what core

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challenges maybe persist across generations for

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women? That's such a key point. It avoids being

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too simple, you know? Like, then was bad, now

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is good. It's much more nuanced. It really encourages

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you to reflect on the complexities. And the secondary

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characters, like... Bernie and Geraldine, they

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add so much depth. We really do. They give you

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different angles on the world Moira was navigating.

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Enriches her story quite a bit. Definitely. Now,

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if I had to pick one tiny thing, and it's more

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of a structural observation. Okay. Sometimes

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the transitions, jumping between Sawarzi's present

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day and Moira's past entries, they felt maybe

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a little abrupt. Just occasionally. I can see

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that. It just like momentarily pulled me out

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of the immersion of whichever storyline I was

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in. That's fair. I mean, handling dual narratives

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like that, getting the rhythm just right. It's

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tricky. It's a delicate balance. Yeah. But I

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felt overall the richness of both stories, the

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depth there. It kind of compensated for any slight.

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clunkiness in the transitions for me anyway.

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Oh, I agree. Ultimately, it didn't detract significantly,

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which is why overall I'd give the women on platform

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to a pretty strong rating, like four out of five

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stars. Yeah, I'd probably land somewhere similar.

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It's definitely thought provoking and emotionally

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resonant, too. It gives you this compelling glimpse

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into two women's lives, their unique challenges

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in different times. It really leaves you thinking

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about the choices women make and the societies

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they. Well, have to navigate. It's that connection

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across time, isn't it? Yeah. The threads linking

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individual struggles within these bigger social

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pictures. Exactly. So, look, if this deep dive

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has piqued your interest, if you want to get

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the full story for yourself. Which we recommend.

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We do. We put an Amazon link for the Women on

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Platform 2 right there in the description for

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this deep dive. Easy to find. And hey, if you

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enjoyed this discussion, this exploration of

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the themes and characters. Please do consider

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liking and subscribing to the show. Yep. So you

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don't miss out on our future deep dives. We've

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got lots more interesting stuff coming up. Absolutely.

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And thanks truly for joining us today as we unpack

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the layers of this novel. We love doing these.

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We really do. And we'd love to hear from you,

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too. What stood out? Was there a moment or an

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idea from our chat that resonated? Or maybe something

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you saw differently in the book. Yeah. let us

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know share your thoughts in the comment section

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below or maybe share this with someone else you

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think might enjoy it we always appreciate hearing

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different perspectives it keeps the conversation

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going it really does yeah so until our next deep

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dive keep exploring keep exploring those stories

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that shape how we see the world and maybe even

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ourselves see you next time