7 JANUARY 1944, Page 11

SIR,—Don't you think the reason why women prefer to read

fiction is that they are much more realistic and practical than men, and therefore cannot lose themselves in the pursuits of inventing Utopias, cutting down the universe to fit the newest philosophy (or one of the old ones), or arranging the future of the world nicely and tidily—and pretend all they read is true? In fact, men must pretend that the world they escape to is, or was, or will be true, where women have the courage to recognise that theirs is frankly fictional.—Yours faithfully,