The Cows is a book that surprises. Dawn O’Porter takes our perception of what women should be in terms of traditional views and messes with it, presenting us with a truer, more 21st century vision. I found it challenging in terms of its direction, not its content and darkly humorous.
O’Porter has chosen three women, the first of these being Tara. Tara is a single mum and career woman, and she is successfully juggling the two roles. She works in a world which is male-dominated and is shown to be handling it at the start of the book, although it is a battle.
Stella is a twin who is faced with a decision which will save her life but may mean that she will lose out on becoming a mother. She has an obsessive personality and is dealing with some pretty big issues with little support. She is in a relationship at the start of the book and has a solid job. But, faced with an ultimatum, things spiral out of control.
Cam is a blogger who has chosen to speak for those women who do not want to have children or to get married. She is representative of female influencers who are happy to live a life where they fulfil their sexual needs from “no strings” relationships and keep their singular identity. Cam does not want to conform with the stereotype of mother and nurturer like her sisters; she is a woman who knows what will bring her happiness and is determined to carve out her own path, regardless of the expectations of others. She is strong and poised and O’Porter does not have her views expressed in the book as radical; to the contrary, she has a voice which is reasonable and rational.
The three women are interconnected by degrees and this is something to be discovered on reading the book. I like what O’Porter does here and the incident at the centre of the book is contentious, involving Tara – again, this is for you to discover – and throws up a whole load of questions into the air, like electrically charged confetti, about privacy and sexuality and how we view these in relation to women.
I like books that challenge traditional thinking and this does that in a way that is entertaining but which takes nothing away from the message at its core.
Rachel Rating: 4/5 stars
Scuffed Granny 