Helen Pugh's Blog

Sneak peek! This one's from Chapter 20.

It was a mere slip of paper. But to Frances Connelly, it was a golden ticket. The card flew through her letterbox and fluttered onto the hallway floor. She stretched her complaining muscles that had been bent over her sewing machine since five in the morning. Gathering up her long skirt, Frances rose, entered the hallway, bent down and picked the paper up. Once she’d read it, she clutched it close to her heart which was beating fiercely underneath her blouse.

The day arrived. Frances removed her hands from the half-finished leather glove, leapt up from the sewing machine and left her home on Salisbury Terrace, Reckleford Road. William Tucker, who had invested in the local glove manufacturing, had financed the construction of the terraced building in the 1890s to provide housing for glove makers like Frances and her family.

It took 7 minutes, if that, for Frances to walk to Yeovil Town Hall, but she still managed to glimpse the suffragist car that was driving around the town with the slogan: “Mothers want votes”.

‘Quite right,’ Frances thought to herself.

At Yeovil Town Hall, the first obstacle was the policeman standing firm outside the entrance, his moustache twitching as he saw Frances approaching the door.

“Excuse me, madam.” His voice had an edge to it. “Can I help you?”

“I am here to cast my vote.”

#somerset #unsungwomeninSomerset #yeovil #book #reading

Out now! Head to books2read dot com/unsung

Unsung Women in Somerset

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Coming soon to Apple Books, Scribd, Kobo and Barnes&Noble.

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Exclusive early release! My new book, "Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire", is coming December 1 to major retailers, but the ebook is available NOW for $3.99 at #Smashwords for immediate purchase and reading! #PRESALE
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EXCITING NEWS!
I have a publication date for the full version of 'Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire':
1st December 2020
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Are you ready to embark on a journey?
Enter a world steeped in legend...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOaRQ...

I think people will be surprised at how much respect women were given during Inca times. Women and men were seen as equal but different with distinct tasks assigned to each of them that were equally valued. Moreover, there were cults dedicated to goddesses that were fully operated by women. These were women-only hierarchies of power. And each queen consort in turn was seen as the leader of all women. In some ways, the emperor and his wife were co-rulers, with her leading worship of the moon goddess and acting as regent whenever he went off to conquer more land etc. Therefore, a lot of the machismo we now see in these Andean countries began with the Spanish Conquest.

I would say the time of the Spanish Conquest is fascinating and since there are more details in historical records about that time than earlier Inca periods, it can be the most enlightening. In part 2 of 'Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire', we will explore the lives of women who were young adults when the Spanish arrived. I call them the "Class of '32" (because the Conquest began in 1532) who graduated from the university of hard knocks and received a baptism of fire. They had to navigate a totally different society with new rules. Many had to marry Spaniards and become Catholic. Many lost custody of their children as they were deemed culturally inferior and therefore unfit to raise their mixed-race children.

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Author Spotlight: Helen Pugh, author of Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire Part 1