Half of the Human Race

by Anthony Quinn

London. In the sweltering summer of 1911, the streets ring to the cheers for a new king's coronation, and to the cries of suffragist women marching for the vote. One of them is twenty-one-year-old Connie Callaway, daughter of a middle-class Islington family fallen on hard times since the death of her father. Forced to abandon her dream of a medical career, Connie is now faced with another hard choice - to maintain lawful protest against an intransigent government or to join the glass-breaking militants in 'the greatest cause the world has ever known'. Holidaying with her family on the South Coast, Connie is introduced to Will Maitland, cricketer and rising star of his county. Despite their mutual attraction, they part on unfriendly terms, she dismayed by his innate chauvinism, he astonished by her outspokenness. Yet they are destined to meet again, their lives inextricably entangled in the fate of Will's friend and idol Andrew Tamburlain, 'The Great Tam', a former Test batsman whose legendary big hitting was once the toast of the nation. Duty plays a commanding part in the life of these two young people, whose love for one another, in a different time, might have bound them in matrimony. But Connie, fired up by the possibilities of independence, wants more than the conventional comforts of marriage; and Will, a son of his age and class, is both attracted and appalled by her quest for self-fulfilment. Buffeted and spun by choice and chance, the two remain tied together, even as the outbreak of war drives them further apart. Combining national drama and private tragedy, "Half of The Human Race" is a book about men and women and their difficulties in understanding each other at a turning-point in history. It is a deeply affecting story of love, sacrifice, suffrage and county cricket, projected against a vivid backdrop of England in an extraordinary age of turmoil and violence.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Book Club, Feminism, Romance, War

349 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Anthony Quinn was born in Liverpool in 1964. Since 1998 he has been the film critic of the Independent. His debut novel The Rescue Man won the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. His second novel Half of the Human Race was released in spring 2011.

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intelligent and assured novel which eschews the melodrama that tends to accrue around subjects like the suffragettes and the first world war. Instead this feels subtle and deeply-felt with a kind of emotional and historical integrity to it.

Spanning a nine year period, this opens in 1911 when the 21 year old Connie first meets Will Maitland, a professional cricketer. They neither fall in love at first sight, nor do they indulge in coy and arch bickering to conceal their instant attraction, but a relationship is begun in all its uncertainly and complications, marred by the arrogance of youth.

Will and Connie are both attractive characters, but certainly not faultless. Will, especially, is very of his time (as he should be, but as so many fictional characters are not): he has inherited ideas of what it means to be a man, about duty and responsibility, and the rightful role of women. He cannot even begin to understand Connie's commitment to the suffragist cause, and this central issue of what happens when a couple love each other but cannot negotiate the deep political dissension between them is fascinatingly played out.

Connie herself is a committed suffragist but not a strident one - she's driven by the deep illogicality which denies women a legal identity as individuals, and becomes politicised rather than the other way around. This part of the book reminded me of Woolf's Night and Day, a testament to the empathy with which Quinn has handled his subject matter.

Where this book excels, however, is in never foregrounding the issues rather than the characters. Towards the end there are a tad too many coincidences in the plot but I willingly forgave them. I loved this book, really cared about the characters' fates and found their story completely absorbing - I don't often give a book 5 stars, saving that accolade for the best, but this deserves every one of them.

[Boyd · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea sounds interesting: a novel about the the women's suffrage movement, the first World War, and cricket, the last-named presumably emblematic of England before the advent of the first two. Alas, the work itself is terrible.

Imagine a book by a contemporary man attempting to sound like a woman attempting to sound like E. M Forster. This is it. Numerous elements of the story are both psychologically unconvincing and practically implausible, even within the context of the fluid realities of the early 20th century. The prose is frequently anachronistic (e.g., "too much on our plates") and even more frequently purple, verging on bodice-ripper territory. Cliches abound, not just as phrases but also in the form of stock characters such as the mustache-twirling villain. I very seldom fail to finish a book, but I was hard-pressed to get to the end of this one.

Apparently, HALF OF THE HUMAN RACE was well-received in England, which I find even more inexplicable than the enthusiastic reception given A.S. Byatt's THE CHILDREN'S BOOK a couple of years ago. The two have many faults in common, including substantial disgorgements of undigested research. But even Byatt's characters are more authentic.

A truly bad book.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. It is beautiful written in a simple A to B, past tense, third person narrative. It's such a relief to read something written in a traditional style which allows the plot and characters come to the fore.

This novel features some fascinating topics including suffragettes, cricket, World War 1. It is engaging and opens a window on life in the 1910's. The main characters, star-crossed lovers Will and Connie, are fully rounded, flawed but likeable people; it was a joy to spend time in their company.

It was lovely to read a book so unashamedly English, I particularly enjoyed reading the scenes at the cricket and I thought that the secondary storyline of retired sportsmen and suicide was very moving and is as relevant now as it was in the early twentieth century.

I would highly recommend this novel.

[Eloise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. This is a much much better cover than the one I saw - actually gives you an impression of what the book's about - from the cover and blurb of the paperback edition I read you'd hardly know it was about suffragettes.

An absorbing read - it would be very very easy to descend into cliches and predictability and this didn't happen; it was also effectively character-driven, without a trite manufactured 'happy ending' which would have ruined the character development laid out so carefully.

That said, I was left a little frustrated by the ending - the author was probably right to end there but I wanted to know if Connie ever did get a chance to be a surgeon! Sadly it seems unlikely knowing the obstacles she would have faced, especially if she did marry Will, but I was dying to know.

[Sue Garwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this one. Great historical detail of life for women in England pre, during and after the Great War. Good insight into life in the trenches too.
Yes there was a love story but not uppermost and over-riding the main issue of the struggle for equality in life.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a long time to read, it was very slow and rather boring, it was a reading group read,chosen by the library not us. Set from 1911 to 1920 it covers the issues of women`s suffrage and the Great War. It is billed as a moving love story, which is very off and on. The main character is a so called professional cricketer, which I doubt they had then, so if you know nothing about cricket much of it would be meaningless. For the rest Ford Maddox Ford wrote about a similar situation in the same period very much better!

[Julia Tutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started off slow, and there is something about the writing style that is a little stifling, but it really warms up halfway through and I was so attached to the characters towards the end I felt quite emotional reading it.

[Reven · Rating 5 out of 5]

The eloquent use of language used in this book will quench the thirst of every avid reader longing for not them to read a sentence but for a sentence to read them.

And the story is beautiful!

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, I have finished it. I didnt dislike the book as I thought the characters were all brought to life well, overall it was a well told story. But I am afraid I just couldnt warm to it. The story is set Pre and during and post WW1 and includes the movement of the suffragets. The two main characters are a headstrong female desperate to be come a doctor and a cricket playing male of society. I liked the flow of the story, nothing appeared to be lost or forgotten in the telling of this major historical time in London. The hint at the professional sports player's life post sport is poignent, and one that we non-celebs should remember is all too often the case. But overall i feel it was just an "ok" read. Its not one I would rush to recommend reading. And on this basis I am not sure why it has been picked for the @TVBookClub 2012. Have also just remembered something that really annoyed me - why call the Cricket club M_Shires why not give it a proper name!?!?!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a very slow start and to begin with, I really disliked most of the characters. But it got better and towards the end, I was hooked as to what would happen to the suffragette Connie, the cricketer Will and all their friends and family.

[Rupert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. A great read, poignant love story

Strongly recommended
I really like Anthony Quinn novels and this shares the sense of place and character, and the rich ical detail, but adds a very moving love story

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inadvertently, this was the second novel with a Suffragette theme I read this week. It also involves cricket and a painter and WWI and is at heart, a well-written, thoroughly entertaining love story.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Well written. Will read more from the author. Wasn't my favourite ending.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Half of the Human Race’ by Anthony Quinn is a gem of a novel, one to keep and re-read. The front cover illustration suggests it is another Great War love story, but it is so much more than that. In fact the warfare occupies only a hundred or so pages. Rather, it is a character study of England before the war, of suffragettes and cricketers, of a different time, when the demands put on love were extreme.
A new king is being crowned and the protestations of votes for women are taking a violent turn. Set against this background in 1911, we meet the key characters at a cricket match. Connie Calloway is a former medical student who now works in a bookshop after her father’s suicide left her family poorer than they expected to be. Will Maitland is a young county cricketer rubbing shoulders with the great ‘Tam’, AE Tamburlain, as popular as WG Grace. A flicker of attraction carries the pair throughout this story as both consider questions of loyalty and belief and where love fits into the mix. When the ageing Tam’s place in the M−Shire team is threatened, Will must consider whether to support his friend or risk losing his captaincy of the team. Connie, at once thrilled and intimidated as her friend Lily is imprisoned in Holloway for a suffragette demonstration, considers the strength of her belief in votes for women and how far she is prepared to go. When she meets an old school friend, she also must make a decision. The decisions they take govern the direction of their lives as times change and the country edges towards war. Will their attraction burgeon into romance and love? Connie is hardly Will’s mother’s idea of the girl he should marry. She is outspoken and independent, perhaps too much so for Will? Connie’s personality is juxtaposed with her older sister Olivia who, Connie fears, is trading her independence for a rich husband.
Quinn creates two characters of their time and beyond it, that are totally believable, with a surrounding cast of characters including the fascinating Tam, artist Denton Brigstock, cousin Louis and friend Lily. Quinn, obviously a cricket fan, writes with a light hand about the sport and this should not be off-putting for any readers who do not like cricket. It is a key part of the plot and offers a view of a gentleman’s world where codes of behavior and manners are assumed, where tradition rules; similar values are on show later in the book when Will, now Captain Maitland, is waiting for the next big push. When he confronts his commanding officer to query a battle plan, he is more like Connie than he would ever realize.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based of the Goodreads star rating I'd probably give this 2.5 which would be around 50%, i.e. average, but I'm being generous and giving it 3 stars. Basically this is a romantic love story with a vaguely historical background. It's a good read if you're not too demanding. On the positive side I thought the characters were convincing within the context of the story and if you don't know much about the period in which it's set it might spur you on to some research. What I found tedious was the over-writing. No opportunity was missed to add a few extra adverbs or adjectives. I think the author was attempting to emulate the writing style of the period but it didn't work for me. I found especially annoying the tic of not naming the cricket club that the male protagonist playing for but calling it M.....shire. It was something writers did and still do to avoid being criticised by readers for getting something wrong. But in this case there isn't a shire county in England that begins with M. So it's just annoying. I'm aware that the book had very positive reviews in the press which baffled me. It's not a bad novel but it could have been so much better. If you put a few predictions in an envelope at the start I suspect you'd have got most of them right. It's very predictable and fairly derivative of other similar novels. I think it would have been far more powerful if the book had been less driven by romance and more by the historical aspect including the politics of the time. But it is what it is and if you're looking for a romantic fantasy to while away a few hours it will certainly fit the bill.

[Dave Appleby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This historical boy-meets-girl romance ticks all the genre boxes.

1911. He's a wealthy public school boy and talented cricketer. She's a suffragette wannabe female surgeon. They fall in love. But. She is fighting against the entrenched values of the patriarchy; he is the establishment. He wants to marry her but he is appalled by her militancy; she wants to marry him but she won't to give up her independence to become a wife and mother. Guess who changes?

There's nothing you can fault in this book. The author has clearly done his research (it shows). He can turn a good phrase (see the selected quotes). It is carefully plotted (though it rather relies on coincidences) and well-paced. The main characters are nicely fleshed-out and believable. But it is all so predictable. I foresaw every twist. The characters are so stereotypical (feisty female, disapproving elder sister, battleaxe mother, naughty granddad). And it targeted only low-hanging fruit. Who now can argue against women having the franchise? Isn't it terrible to force-feed a hunger striker? Who isn't aware that the generals in the first world war were intransigent fools whose tactics caused huge numbers of needless deaths? I longed to be challenged by this book but I was soon aware that Quinn's popularity depends on him expressing sentiments that everyone else agrees with. He's a good enough writer to be controversial but, unlike his heroine, he copped out. I felt as Connie felt in chapter 4: "Disappointment touched its limp hand to her heart."

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely falls under the umbrella of what my mum might call "a nice wee book", minus the fact that it's quite long! Very easy to read, and about a time in history I know very little about, which helped increase my investment. The descriptions were simple but evocative, and I had a feeling of really living alongside the characters, even though the characters' feelings didn't feel all that immediate for me. I didn't mind that; I was happy to be carried along for the ride.

A description I loved, as motor cars are beginning to be more common on the streets: “[…] though she felt sad about the horses' gradual disappearance; it was hard to imagine the roads without the castanet rhythm of hooves any more. The advent of something useful always seemed to entail the loss of something cherished.”

So as you can tell: sweetly nostalgic at times, but not in that blind "things were better" way—in fact, the book's very clear about how not-better things were, not just for women but for people of lower classes. The drama came primarily from the events of the time, rather than something inside the characters, and I was perfectly happy with the subdued way feelings were handled as our two main characters undergo years of missed connections. Really glad this book was picked for my book group, as I probably wouldn't have picked it myself—and would have missed out as a result.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An epic love story! I wasn’t quite as enthralled with this book as I was with the first I read of Anthony Quinn’s - Curtain Call. At the start I was worried that it wouldn’t be so engrossing and I was bothered by odd, formal old fashioned turns of phrase that were jarring in the text. These did persist to an extent, but as the characters and the plot became more fleshed out, the irritations I had faded.

This is such a plot driven, character driven novel and I really loved reading the part of the book concerned with the suffragette movement in particular. I felt the novel as a whole was overlong and the portion of it set in the war, as well as the ending, was a little rushed as a result, but I see it all was necessary to tell the stories of Connie & Will.

I also loved how sympathetic it seemed the author was towards Connie and how he depicted the flaws and frailties in Will’s character only to make Connie come across stronger. From a male writer, this is so refreshing and satisfying!

You can definitely imagine a screen adaptation of this book, but it’s ultimately a very satisfying read with strong, well developed characters.

[TwoDrinks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brodie kept being late because she was sidetracked reading this book so I wanted to read it too. The first third contained far too much cricket for me but then it picked up. I really liked Connie; she was challenging and clear in her own mind of her own values and guiding star. I do wonder how this book would be received in other countries. Being steeped in WW1 and suffragette history, I knew the back story but I think this book could be tricky to engage with if you didn’t. I really enjoyed it though and the cover was a perfect artwork for the content. So many corners are turned down for me to look words up I don’t know! 🤣

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I will forgive a book with a plucky wartime heroine almost anything - here it’s occasionally unconvincing motivations and multiple counts of ‘wanting desperately to say something/ being unable to speak’ - but I really enjoyed this. It’s just a good, old-fashioned love-in-war story. There’s a sort of Jane Austen quality to the parade of characters moving in and out of each other’s lives over time, misunderstandings and social mores. Simple, satisfying and so, so readable.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book would be boringly about cricket at the start, but a few chapters in I was hooked.
The accounts of the suffragettes was well handled as was Will's time at the front. It was easy to identify with Connie, and the fight for women's rights. I did feel the ending was weak however, and I got the feeling that the author was writing with a dictionary or thesaurus beside him to conjure up different adjectves to use.

[Lindsay Barnard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly slow-paced start at the cricket match when the main characters are introduced, but the plot soon gets going with a good mix of historical action involving the suffragette movement; events around the First World War and an ongoing love story. A good sense of period, rounded characters and effective plot makes this an enjoyable read.

[Michael Harling · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't a bad read, but as you can see by how long it took me to read it, it didn't grip me. On the other hand, I kept at it, so there must have been something there. It painted a fairly good picture of the era, which was around the First World War, and depicted the dangers of the Suffragette movement well. I guess I was just busy doing other things.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I anticipated I would. I always like it when character's have strong morals and don't all have similar voices which blur together. This book perfectly wrote characters with strong opinions which they stuck to when making decisions and weren't immediately swayed away from. Instead, they went through more gradual character growth, which I find a lot more realistic and satisfying to read.

[Dawn Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable read showcasing insights into the various aspects of suffrage, cricket and war in England leading up to the war, during and after.

Compelling in every way, and leaves one wondering if there are real love stories like this, and the gentlemen of days gone by have really left the world for good.

The discovery of self, of owning our own choices, and being willing to stand for a cause even if it leaves us alone in this world written in such a wonderful and thoughtful way.

A story of love: the romantic kind, the brotherly sisterly kind, of friendships and parentage, the love of a cause and higher ideals.

Written in a wonderfully British way, with vocabulary forgotten by most, and an absolute joy to read!

Sad to have reach the end, which I might add had me guessing all the way. Cleverly done, leaving me with smiles, joy and reflections.

Thank you Anthony for a truly fantastic read!

[Tolkien InMySleep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligent romance with a social conscience

[Sue Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot.

[Andrea Boulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with a lot of history entwined within the story. A love story but that is not the main focus which is refreshing

A great read

[Lesley Keast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. A real love story, with loads of history and a touch of cricket!!

[Elaine Doe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished it on Fri 4/5/2021.