PositiveThe Arts Fuse... the frenzied clash of egos, gender politics, and cultural agendas in Erica Abeel’s satirical novel The Commune sheds considerable light on today’s dysfunctions. There is little here of the idealized past in which Women’s Lib flourished from a neatly uniform sense of sisterhood ... Abeel forges a critique from inside the feminist matrix, throwing a spotlight on the contradictions and interpersonal discord gestating within the movement, primarily those of class, sexual identity, and political gatekeeping. There is nothing especially groundbreaking or scathingly critical in this farce but, as an example of historical revisionism, it’s a valuable representation of the cultural, political, and class dynamics that animated the Women’s Liberation Movement ... The Commune provides an entertaining way to revisit a crucial moment in feminist history.
