If you are a geriatric or middle-aged millennial woman who loved Scholastic book fairs, you probably have core memories of “Catherine Called Birdy.” The 1994 historical fiction Y.A. novel by Karen Cushman was certainly formative for both of us.
The book follows spirited 14-year-old Birdy, the daughter of a country knight in 1290 England. Her father has decided that it is time to marry her off to the highest bidder, and the novel takes us into Birdy’s diary as she quietly and overtly rages against the gender-based strictures of her time. It is a story that feels both incredibly of the moment that it was published, and simultaneously a timeless tale of transition from girlhood into young adulthood.
On Oct. 7, Lena Dunham’s adaptation of the beloved novel, which stars Bella Ramsey, Billie Piper, Andrew Scott and Joe Alwyn (aka Mr. Taylor Swift), hit Amazon Prime. On this week’s subscribers pod, we dive into the film and the ways in which it stays true to…
