Reading Groups

Women and Power: Narrative Conflict, Contrast, and Desire with Sheila Kohler

4 Sessions Mondays, 6:00 pm EDT - 7:30 pm EDT April 6 to June 8, 2026

Online via Zoom

Price:
$180 Without Books | $199.60 With Books

This reading group is now sold out. Please email [email protected] to join the waitlist—and become a member for early access to future programming. The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
4/6, 4/27, 5/18, 6/8
Online via Zoom

Conflict and contrast are at the heart of good storytelling. When a character is willing to use all the means at their disposal to get what they want or consider to be rightfully theirs, the result is irresistibly suspenseful. Join me for a deep-dive into books that portray the struggle for power between mothers and daughters, women and men, and women and society, including Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt, Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy, The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig, and Bluebird, or the Invention of Happiness by Sheila Kohler. Expect an open, lively discussion of each text and the author’s narrative and storytelling decisions.

Reading List:

Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig
Bluebird, or the Invention of Happiness by Sheila Kohler

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Please read Loved and Missed in its entirety before the first session.

Pricing inclusive of sales tax if applicable. Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler is the author of eleven novels, three volumes of short fiction, a memoir, and many essays. Her most recent novel is Open Secrets, (Penguin, 2020). Her memoir, Once We Were Sisters, was published by Penguin in 2017 as well as Canongate in England and Alba in Spain. She has won numerous prizes including the O. Henry twice and been included in Best American Short Stories in 2013 and Best American Mystery 2020. Her work has been published in thirteen countries. She has taught at Columbia, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington and at Princeton since 2007. Her novel, Cracks, was made into a film with directors Jordan and Ridley Scott with Eva Green playing Miss G and was recently reissued by Open Road. Open Road will republish six of her early books this year. You can find her blog at Psychology Today under Dreaming for Freud. She has been made “Writer in Residence” at the America Library in Paris for 2025.

Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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