Where There’s Muck, There’s Bras: Lost Stories of the Amazing Women of the North

by Kate Fox

From rebels to writers, athletes to astronauts, join Kate Fox takes on an entertaining and eye-opening journey through the lives of these extraordinary women whose lives and achievements have too long been hidden. From Cartimandua , the forgotten Iron Age Queen of the North, to Woodbine-smoking football player Lily Parr , Kate with her trademark wit and sense of fun, shows how these astonishing trailblazers laid the ground for modern stars from Victoria Wood to Little Mix . Nicola Adams, Betty Boothroyd and Helen Sharman all have these unsung northern champions to thank for paving their way. Funny, enlightening and a call to arms, it’s perfect for a nation ready to rediscover its hidden heroes.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

400 pages, Hardcover

Published June 28, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Kate Fox is a poet based in Northern England who has made two comedy series for Radio 4 and written and performed numerous broadcast poetry commissions as a regular on Radio 3’s The Verb and Radio 4’s Saturday Live. She won the Andrew Waterhouse Award for poetry from New Writing North in 2006. Her publications include We Are Not Stone (Ek Zuban, 2006), Fox Populi (Smokestack, 2013) and Chronotopia (Burning Eye Books, 2017). She completed a PhD in performance in 2017 from the University of Leeds, researching Northernness and comedy. She loves swimming outside, spaniels, Doctor Who and big skies.

Reviews

[Diana Kitson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of lovely, interesting stories about amazing northern women.

[Katheryn Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. Where There’s Muck, There’s Bras tells the stories of a multitude of women from the North of England who deserve to be better known. There are quite a few books like this about, but I always enjoy learning new things, and I appreciated Kate Fox’s focus on northern women.

What made this book, for me, was the author’s voice. Fox has made this book personal and funny, and I really enjoyed reading it. I really liked the way this book was laid out, giving the reader little bits of information about lots of different women, and grouping women together in interesting and logical ways. Fox does a fantastic job of linking stories and chapters together, creating a cohesive book and a smooth read.

The only downside is that Where There’s Muck, There’s Bras isn’t as rigorously researched as I would have liked. The bibliography isn’t particularly impressive and there are no references or footnotes, leaving the reader a little unsure as to the accuracy of everything the book claims. This is the first book I have read from the Harper North imprint, which sounds exciting but doesn’t seem particularly well publicised? And I did notice quite a few typos.

[tabitha✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect combination of humour, feminism, history, social critique & the author’s personal anecdotes. A true northern literary delicacy🫶

[Karin Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone who is both a scholar and a comedian is the ideal person to write this book as it’s well researched but not heavy. Interesting stories about northern women, some well known but most less so, and reflections on what it means to be northern.

[Laura Bailey]

As a Northern woman, it has been so refreshingly inspirational to read about so many incredible women that have came before me. I hope to at least attempt to follow in their bad ass footsteps.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely gift from a lovely friend. So many names and stories I have never heard of and and an absolute joy to read of both those and the ones who are already important to me. The joyful collection resonates so deeply with the mark these women have made and the one I hope to make in the future. Made me smile a great deal and was lovely company to have with me on trains up and down the country for the past few weeks. God, I just love Northern women💪🏻

[Rosiemay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to a number of inspirational women of the North. However, it would have benefited from more rigorous research. As other reviewers note, much of the bibliography is made up of website addresses which is a little disappointing when telling such important stories.

[Miki Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned about people and places I know little about