Author: Charlotte Greig
Publisher: OTHER PRESS LLC
ISBN-978-1-59051-317-0

This book exudes the flavor of Sussex in 1973 via the telling descriptions of the minutia of everyday life, such as life on campus and in small English towns, trains, pubs, drinking "booz," tea, and college life. Greig has the gift of concise, elegant prose that hits with great force. Her use of first person narrative makes us believe that her heroine is real.

Greig's fiction re-creates the high impact that can result from relations between people. And in the vein of traditional British storytellers, she uses vibrant, lush language that draws you into her tale.

Susannah is a philosophy student at university. She has one regular older, handsome boyfriend, Jason, and she meets with a younger immature student, Rob. Naturally, she gets pregnant but she does not know who is the father.

She is in a quandary, should she or shouldn’t she have an abortion. Remember, this is the seventies and just the beginning of feminism in England. A poor, unwed mother is not a very popular solution. Her friends Cassie and Fiona, both feminists, encourage her to have an abortion. She cannot turn to her mom for counseling because she herself is recovering from the death of her husband and is very depressed.

Neither can she expect her “boyfriends” to be very supportive. This is when Susannah turns to her philosophy classes for an answer to her predicament. She does not know what is the right thing to do. Have the baby in very difficult conditions or have an abortion? Which will she choose?

The author very cleverly weaves into the very believable text, the musings of Nietzsche, Hegel and Kirkegaard. The arguments run for and against abortion. Is it like taking out a tooth (like Fiona portends) or is there a morality there that cannot be ignored?
In the end, will Susannah have an abortion or will she go on with her pregnancy and have the baby?

In addition to teaching something about the practical applications of philosophy.  A Girl’s Guide to Modern European Philosophy is an entertaining read, a page turner that will leave you wanting for more from this new and talented author, Charlotte Greig.