Florence responded to Chidera saying: “You’ve outright denied my entire reality, multiple times in your messages.

The plagiarism which Eggerue accuses Given of is just part of the debate to be had here; these ‘responses’ and ‘reactions’ highlight issues of young Black feminist voices being ignored. I could talk about this book for so much longer, but I think it would be a lot easier for both of us if you just read the book yourself. At the stage I’m at in life it wasn’t particularly anything new, but reaffirming and empowering to read all the same.Eggergue has highlighted similarities between the content of their books, but she also points to similarities in the books’ covers and styles. We would love to hear your thoughts on Florence Given’s debut book, so let’s chat in the comments section. Some have argued that many popular feminist texts just look similar, and are bound to cover a lot of the same ground.

The same activists and change makers suddenly won’t address the dumpster fire in their own back garden. Provided by her Instagram page, Given has a very ready audience for her brand of contemporary feminism. She offers more realistic illustrations of women’s bodies and doesn’t shy away from drawing them with body hair, rolls and gapped teeth.In an article for The Guardian in 2019, Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo wrote about Eggerue’s debut novel, and seemed to predict the future by questioning the longevity of the demand for young Black female authors. Possibly the best feature of this book is the beautiful and inspiring illustrations that appear every few pages. Given actively encourages the reader to address their unhealthy behaviours and beliefs, but she also does not shy away from admitting to her own problematic actions, and the fact that she herself is still enduring the process of unlearning biased ideals. Alongside this, much of her artwork is accompanied by mantras that, quite frankly, we need to hear more often. One of these in her book is, ‘feeling guilty for past mistakes and behaviours does nothing for you or the people you harmed, unless you use it to change your behaviour’.

We still had till mid-January to work together and we had even done some jobs together during this remaining 3 month period.The Slumflower has been pitched against Given on social media and in articles that use language of violence and opposition. She unpacks the inspiration behind the title and explores how the notion of ‘prettiness’ is just used to justify men’s treatment of women based on whether or not they find them desirable enough to respect. If there was a genre titled ‘books you didn’t know you needed’, this one would be the first one on the list. It is true that there is expected overlap, but to dismiss both books as ‘coffee table books’ is also to dismiss two Sunday Times bestselling authors, with a combined 900k following on Instagram. Since reading Florence’s work, I have learnt to follow her mantra of being the love of my own life, a lesson which is essential for women’s liberation in a society which values us based on our desirability.