Votes for Women: The Virago Book of Suffragettes

by Joyce Marlow (Editor)

Drawing on extracts from diaries, newspapers, letters, journals, and books, Joyce Marlow has pieced together this inspiring, poignant and exciting history using the voices of the women themselves. Some of the people and events are well-known, but Marlow has gone beyond the obvious, particularly beyond London, to show us the ordinary women—middle and working-class, who had the breathtaking courage to stand up and be counted—or just as likely pelted with eggs. These women were clever and determined, knew the power of humor and surprise, and exhibited "unladylike" passion and bravery. Joyce Marlow's anthology is lively, comprehensive, surprising, and triumphant.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Feminism, Womens, Reference

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2000

About the author

Born Manchester 27 December 1929. Professional actress 1949-1966. Occasional Press Officer. Professional writer 1964 onwards.
Founder member Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society and Copyright Licensing Agency. Lay member Industrial (now Employment) Tribunal panel 1977 –1990 London and Manchester. 1955 married actor Patrick Connor (1926-2008). Two sons, Nicholas born 1961, Julian 1966.

Reviews

[Benedicte Uhrenholt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough timeline of these brilliant womens' fight. Read for history SL IA; nonetheless both empowering and heartbreaking.

[Karen]

The Top 10 Books About the Suffragettes

(2001)
This huge collection of documents, speeches, journals, extracts from books and letters relating to the women’s movement is invaluable for history detectives. Highlights include a stiffly worded letter from a gentleman complaining to the home secretary about the lack of sanitary towels for suffragettes in Holloway (while avoiding using the phrase “sanitary towels”) and a Daily Express article about Miss Muriel Matters who took to a dirigible to drop paper bills on parliament in return for their “dropping” of the women’s suffrage bills. Also illuminating is the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage Manifesto, a reminder of how many women were against the suffrage cause.