Stand We at Last

by Zoë Fairbairns

Follows the fortunes and quests for independence from Victorian England to 1960s America, of five generations of women, beginning with the courageous struggles of sisters Helena and Sarah

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

624 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Zoe Fairbairns was born in England on 20 December 1948, and educated at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and the College of William and Mary, USA. She has worked as a freelance journalist and a creative writing tutor, and is the former poetry editor of Spare Rib. She has also held appointments as Writer in Residence at Bromley Schools (1981-3 and 1985-9), Deakin University, Geelong, Australia (1983), Sunderland Polytechnic (1983-5) and Surrey County Council (1989).

Her first novel, Live as Family, written when she was seventeen, was published in 1968, and her second, Down: An Explanation (1969), was published a year later while she was still at university. Both novels employ a first-person narrative to explore issues of personal and community responsibility. Her short stories have been included in many anthologies, including Tales I Tell My Mother: A Collection of Feminist Short Stories (1978) and Brilliant Careers (2000). She has also contributed to poetry anthologies, including The Faber Book of Blue Verse (1990). In the 1970s her writing centred on environmental and social concerns, and she produced reports for CND and Shelter. In 1984, with James Cameron, she published Peace Moves: Nuclear Protest in the 1980s, an account of the anti-nuclear protest movement.

Benefits (1979), a tense, dystopian novel, marked her return to fiction and to women's issues, and five further novels, which consolidated her reputation as a feminist writer, followed: Stand we at Last (1983), spans 120 years and three continents and chronicles the lives of five generations of women against a background of Victorian repression, prostitution, the suffragette movement, the devastation of war and the rise of the women's movement; Here Today (1984), which was awarded the 1985 Fawcett Society Book Prize, is an exploration of feminist themes in a crime setting; Closing (1987), is a sharp portrait of working women caught between feminisim and Thatcherism; and Daddy's Girls (1992), is a saga of three sisters in a family full of guilty secrets. Zoe Fairbairns' most recent novel, Other Names, was published in 1998. Her latest book is a collection of short stories, How Do You Pronounce Nulliparous? (2004).

From the author's website:
Born:
England, 1948.

Family:
Second of three daughters.

Parents:
Conscientious. Furious. Funny. Gave great parties. Had huge rows. Got divorced.

Religion:
Born with an open mind. Christened into Church of England. Educated by Catholic nuns. (Don’t ask. Or Click here) Secularist.

Employment status? (Employed full-time, employed part-time, unemployed, self-employed, retired?)
All of the above.

Blog, Twitter, Facebook?
None of the above. But I welcome friendly, interesting, emails from friendly, interesting people, and I do my best to reply in kind.

Contact her at: zoe@zoefairbairns.co.uk

Reviews

[Scarlett O.H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing, the story is so good! It's nice when you read a book where you know about half-way in that you are definitely going to re-read it. This book is a family saga about several women who's story is told from generation to generation. The special thing about this book is that the women's suffrage movement and later the 2nd wave feminists, play a prominent role in this story.
It touches the lives of all the women in the book and these choices and actions of the earlier generation's women have (sometimes unforeseen) consequences for the later generations. The writing is immensely compassionate and emotionally realistic.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't what I expected. Although it is a multi-generation saga the women's stories don't feel tied together. From my current standpoint it felt like it alternated between the characters having no choices and making bad decisions. I didn't empathize much with any of the main characters except for Jackie when she was at the American college and got involved in the Women's Liberation Movement. Mostly the characters felt one-dimensional.

The spoiler tag is to remind myself of the plots.
Helena - married young to an older man, didn't like sex, couldn't have children, was told it was her fault. After her death her sister accused the husband of giving her syphilis and he realized that might be true.
Sarah - emigrated to Australia with dreams of buying land and owning her own farm, found that the only roles for women were servant, prostitute and wife. Lived with slovenly brothers in the outback, got pregnant, lost the baby, came back to England to find her sister had died, lived with her brother-in-law as stereotypical spinster.
Pearl - daughter of Helena's husband by his hidden mistress who had been a barmaid or prostitute, loved her father until she found out that he didn't marry her mother even when his wife had died. Was sent to live with father and "Aunt Sarah" after being mistaken for a prostitute, hated London and "Aunt Sarah" so married the pie-man to get away. Overwhelmed by working hard at housekeeping but had five children - four were boys
Ruby - daughter of Pearl, wanted to be more independent, got a job with typewriting agency owned by suffragists, fell in love with a poet who believed in free love and dumped her after they had sex, married someone she didn't care for and moved to India where she became typical British memsahib, moved back to England after her husband was killed by an Indian.
Emma - Ruby's daughter, sent to England to boarding school, hated her mother for abandoning her at school, died when blown up by a landmine during WWII trying to throw a joint of meat into the sea because it was black market.
Jackie - daughter of Emma's son Randolph and his wife who went to school with Emma, intelligent at school until she tried to learn science with boys. Got one-year scholarship at rural college in US, met activists, got pregnant and came back to England because she heard it was easier to get abortion but then decided to have the baby. Moved to commune in Scotland. Came back and asked for help from women's center run by former friend. (Book ends here.)

[Northern Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tells the story of several generations of women and the challenges they meet along the way. From the mid 19th century right up to the 1970s. The different chapters feature the different time periods and take the story forward. Covering major events we see how life for women was often subject to the whims of men.

The story of Sarah was the most important one I felt. She travels to Australia at a time when this wasn't easy for a woman alone and has many hardships there. We go with her in good times and bad and her influence is felt by the succeeding generations.

The book doesn't gloss over the hardships endured and shows how women far from being weak prove to be strong and resilient.

I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a good saga with the background of real events.

[Koootar · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'est une saga familiale racontant l'histoire de différentes générations de jeunes filles, commençant par Helena, passant à sa sœur Sarah, ensuite c'était l'histoire de Perle, Ruby, Emma, et Jackie. Chacune avaient son histoire, ses idées qui la en vie, ses espoirs ses rêves, et surtout chacune faisaient son effort pour échapper au destin et au sort qui était affliger à chacune de ses précédente.
L'auteur relate aussi le développement des idées féministes, et comment chaque génération menait son combat.

[Bernice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feminist family saga. I found it interesting but not particularly gripping.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a typical women's lib story -- told thru the lives of different generations of the same family, starting in 1855 to the present -- some women/girls were independent, others were sheer drudges, overburdened with too many children. One lived in Australia before returning home to England; one lived in India during the Raj -- an interresting description of life there and then for the British, and she also returned to England. Not exactly a light read but nothing was very deep! However, I did like it!

[Jayne Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent read overall, but I thought the early stages, dealing with sisters one of whom emigrated to Australia, went on a bit too long. It was more interesting once we got to the wartime, and more modern characters. The author's feminist politics are all over it, but given that it's a family saga about women one can hardly complain.

[The Casket · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books you wish you had found ages ago. A sweeping story written by a master of language and tackling many social and female issues without thrusting them down your throat. Highly recommended.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book in my 20s and although it isn’t flawless - the initial story of Sarah’s life in Australia is way too long - it’s a book I always come back to. It’s a feminist family saga set over several generations and all the characters and their stories are highly compelling.