To Be A Woman: The Life Of Jill Craigie

by Carl Rollyson

This biography of the film-maker, writer, and feminist Jill Craigie is an intimate portrait of an influential and charismatic woman. Craigie became the first woman to establish a national reputation in the documentary film field, most notably as a result of her 1944 film, Out of Chaos. After a four-year affair with MP Michael Foot, the couple married in 1949. As the women's movement grew in strength in Britain during the 60s and 70s, Craigie became an inspirational figure for many of its leaders and an active participant in many feminist causes. For this book, Carl Rollyson was given access to the archive in Foot's Hampstead home, which contains Craigie's research notes, drafts of her journalism and scripts, and her correspondence with an array of major historical figures, ranging from prime ministers to writers, film-makers and artists. He interviews Craigie's daughter Julie as well as a range of her surviving friends, and Michael Foot talks with frankness about his marriage, the strains which were placed upon it by his own infidelities, and his pride in having shared the life of so remarkable a woman.

Genres: Nonfiction

382 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Carl Rollyson, Professor of Journalism at Baruch College, The City University of New York, has published more than forty books ranging in subject matter from biographies of Marilyn Monroe, Lillian Hellman, Martha Gellhorn, Norman Mailer, Rebecca West, Susan Sontag, and Jill Craigie to studies of American culture, genealogy, children’s biography, film, and literary criticism. He has authored more than 500 articles on American and European literature and history. His work has been reviewed in newspapers such as The New York Times and the London Sunday Telegraph and in journals such as American Literature and the Dictionary of Literary Biography. For four years (2003-2007) he wrote a weekly column, "On Biography," for The New York Sun and was President of the Rebecca West Society (2003-2007). His play, THAT WOMAN: REBECCA WEST REMEMBERS, has been produced at Theatresource in New York City. Rollyson is currently researching a biography of Amy Lowell (awarded a "We the People" NEH grant). "Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews, a biography of Dana Andrews is forthcoming in September from University Press of Mississippi. His biography, "American Isis: The Life and Death of Sylvia Plath" will be published in February 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of her death. His reviews of biography appear regularly in The Wall Street Journal, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Raleigh News & Observer, The Kansas City Star, and The New Criterion. He is currently advisory editor for the Hollywood Legends series published by the University Press of Mississippi. He welcomes queries from those interested in contributing to the series. Read his column, "Biographology," that appears every two weeks at bibliobuffet.com

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jill Craigie was the wife of Labour Party Leader Michael Foot. Feminism, politics and history - plus the arts and some fascinating relationships - a portrait of a time as well as of a woman.

If you're interested in people, socialism, feminism and history - this is a great read. Nicely written and diligently researched, this book tells of the life of an intelligent and perceptive woman of her time and also of a political marriage during a period of great political interest in Britian and in the World. Jill Craigie was the wife of the Labour politician Michael Foot and though he was not her first husband, their relationship dominates the book. With guest appearances by luminaries and political heavyweights from Bernard Shaw to Indira Gandhi, this book gives a real insight into a Political marriage and into a Country struggling with the aftermath of the war and undergoing real change and upheaval. Though Jill Craigie is not a particularly sympathetic figure, her portrait, drawn with affection and personal knowledge by Carl Rollyson, is honest and insightful and shows her to be a woman like many others of her era who, despite being an ardent feminist and a 'William Morris Socialist' was still a woman of the time and was forced to make some pragmatic choices and sacrifices for the man she loved.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jill Craigie is an incredible filmmaker and a feminist leader but unfortunately this incredibly dull and stuffy biography doesn't do any justice to her work or her impact. There were many moments where I thought the biographer just wanted to write a book about her husband (Michael Foot) this whole time. If you're not already familiar with Jill Craigie don't waste your time with this book - discover her work through her beautiful, funny, and innovative films (most available through the BFI free library)