It was my father who first told me about the suffragettes. At the age of 12, I was asked at school to prepare a talk about someone important in history. “why don’t you do emily pankhurst?” he suggested he. “She is the one who threw herself under the king’s horse for the votes of women.” Looking back, I very much appreciate her efforts to guide me in the direction of feminism. but by confusing emmeline pankhurst, founder of the women’s social and political union (the suffragettes), with emily wilding davison, whose 1913 derby protest caused her tragic death, he accidentally exposed a huge gap in popular consciousness regarding a history of women in the 20th century.
Years later, when I started researching my novel, The Hourglass Factory, I discovered a large number of books about suffragettes. an era of turbulence, backstabbing, bravery and brilliance, he knew he wanted it to serve as the basis for a conspiracy thread in history. here are my favorite books on the subject.
You are reading: Books on woman suffrage
1. The Suffragette Movement: An Intimate Account of People and Ideals by E Sylvia Pankhurst (1931)
sylvia pankhurst’s book is a comprehensive first-hand account of the suffrage movement. Part memoir, part historical narrative, it takes us from her humble childhood, to her friendship with founding member of the Independent Labor Party, Keir Hardie, to her split from the main WSPU to form the East London Suffragette Federation. The allegations of torture in Perth prison are chilling, as is the passage in which Pankhurst reports on the return of suffragettes from a meeting in Albert Hall: “they arrived in twos, bruised and disheveled…”
2. Unchained: The Story of How We Won the Vote by Christabel Pankhurst (1959)
christabel pankhurst’s story at wspu begins with her parents meeting and ends with her obtaining votes on equal terms with men, which in a cruel twist of fate coincided with her mother’s death. she is thick on political history and the minutiae of parliament’s many breakout dances, used to avoid debating the issue of votes for women. but there are also accounts of the creative militant activities of both women and men, including an incident in which a member of the men’s political union climbed a pillar at a limehouse meeting to reveal a suffragist banner “over the heads of two puzzled cabinet ministers”. ‘
3. Antonia Raeburn’s Militant Suffragettes (1974)
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this was the first book i picked up on suffragettes and as an introduction to the violent and imaginative activities of the wspu it is brilliant. Anecdotes include Elizabeth Kelley, a daredevil who hid on the roof of Dundee’s Kinnaird Hall for 17 hours before bursting through scaffolding and a skylight, and the creation of an armed guard, wielding wooden sticks to protect wspu high level speakers.
4. votes for women by elizabeth robins (1907)
This 1907 play was written by the American actress and writer and follows vida levering, a new woman radicalized by her troubled past and trying to use her experience to carve out a better life for other women. it is believed to have sparked the founding of the League of Actresses Franchise and a number of copycat suffrage plays. but I love it for its caustic lines. ‘”crazy”, “no sex”‘ spits lever. “These are today’s words. in the middle ages men shouted ‘witch!’ and burned it.”
5. fallen angels of tracy chevalier (2001)
Chevalier’s 2001 novel presents the work of suffragettes as part of a larger exploration of the changing role of women in the early 20th century. As the Victorian era gives way to Edwardian, isolated and unhappy Kitty Coleman, Maude’s mother, is introduced to the WSPU. there is no romanticization of suffragist activities here. the book tackles head-on the choice women face between devoting their time to a noble cause and their conventional role as mothers. the result is heartbreaking.
Votes for Women: The Virago Book of Suffragettes, edited by Joyce Marlow (2001)
This massive collection of documents, speeches, diaries, book excerpts, and letters relating to the women’s movement is invaluable to history detectives. highlights include a stiffly worded letter from a gentleman complaining to the home secretary about the lack of sanitary napkins for suffragettes in holloway (while avoiding using the phrase ‘sanitary napkins’) and a daily express article on the affairs of miss muriel who took a blimp to drop paper bills in parliament in exchange for her “rejection” of the women’s suffrage bills. Also illuminating is the national manifesto against women’s suffrage, a reminder of how many women were against the cause of suffrage.
7. vindication! a historical postcard of the women’s movement by ian mcdonald (1989)
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In the early 20th century, postcards were the equivalent of today’s internet memes: a crisp snapshot with a pithy quote or poignant caption. McDonald’s book tells the story of 19th and 20th century feminism, but it is his chosen images that tell the real story. images of well workers show women working in traditionally male domains, while commemorative postcards of major players in the suffrage movement demonstrate their celebrity status. it also shows how caricatures formed the backbone of the anti-suffrage movement, caricaturing suffragettes as monstrous spinsters.
8. sally heathcote, suffragist for mary m talbot, kate charlesworth and bryan talbot (2014)
This inspirational book turns the battle for women’s suffrage into a graphic novel. Sally Heathcote starts out as Mrs Pankhurst’s servant, but she quickly joins the ranks of the WSPU upon arriving in London. the narrative is brought to life with sharp-angled images flashing color from bleeding wounds and triumphant green, white and purple suffragist banners. Through Sally’s eyes, the daily life of a working-class Edwardian woman feels fresh and vital. Crucially, the authors do not shy away from criticizing branches of the movement.
9. the suffragettes in images of diane atkinson (2010)
“deeds not words” was the motto of the wspu, but when it comes to piecing together its history, former london museum curator diane atkinson knows the value of images. The book (one of many written by Atkinson on the suffragettes) documents the work that went on inside and outside of suffragette headquarters and contains photos of press room activities, packed marches and homecoming parties for recently released prisoners, as well as brutal accounts of the abuse of women on what became known as Black Friday.
10. do not surrender by constance maud (1911)
Constance Maud’s 1911 novel is a tapestry of conflicting contemporary views on women’s suffrage. Miller Jenny Clegg becomes a leading figure in the WSPU with the support of the wealthy and progressive Mary O’Neil. Her adversaries include prison guards, cabinet ministers, and male and female “antis.” the final scene is a devastating reminder of the book’s publication date, with maud concluding: “and now it was surely dawn time…the conciliation committee had been formed, and never again would the claims of the women be allowed to be set aside.” women. , “blithely unaware that it would be another 17 years before the same franchise would be granted.
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