Joyce Marlow

Page Updated: 01/11/00

Joyce Marlow

Votes For Women

05 Oct 00

Books By Joyce Marlow

About the Author

Bibliography

First British Edition Virago (2000)

Votes For Women
'The smouldering resentment in women's heart burst into the flame of revolt. There began one of the strangest battles in English history' Hannah Mitchell, Suffragette
‘The Queen is most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad wicked folly of woman’s rights, with all its attendant horrors on which her poor sex is bent’ Queen Victoria, 1870
'It cannot be denied that woman has suffered at the hands of man, but this is the result of women not having reared their sons properly. They must reap what they sow' Marie Corelli, Author

’Addressing the bench Miss Pankhurst said – I want to explain as clearly as I can that at the time I committed the assault that is complained of I was not aware that the individuals assaulted were police officers. I thought they were Liberals' Manchester Guardian, 1905
'At first I refused to speak at street corners; it seemed such a vulgar thing to do. Mrs Despard once had a rotten egg landed full in her face, but quietly continued her speech. A strong, coarse straw hat, tipped well down over the face was a great protection and saved us from hard missiles and the cayenne pepper blown at us from bellows' Margaret Nevison, Suffragist
'An organised attempt by some 100 Suffragettes to invade the Houses of Parliament led to extraordinary and unparalleled scenes - leaving a few of his men to grapple with the group, Inspector Scantlebury hurried off for reinforcements. Six stalwart policemen arrived at the double, and flung themselves into the melee leaving a trail of hatpins and hairpins behind them, and even bonnets. In all ten arrests were made' Daily Chronicle, 1906
‘At the House of Commons last night two suffragists chained themselves to the grille of the Ladies Gallery. The attendants were powerless to eject the women and portions of the grille had to be taken out and the women removed with the ironwork still chained to their bodies’ Daily Express, 1908
The struggle lasted nearly a century. In the pre-Great War phase it turned into a bloody and dangerous war, finally won in 1928 by sheer will and determination. Using contemporary sources and the voices of the women themselves - drawn from diaries, newspapers, letters, journals, memoirs and government files - Joyce Marlow has pieced together the inspiring, poignant and exciting history of women's battle for the vote. Some of the people and events are well known, but Joyce Marlow has gone beyond the obvious, particularly beyond London, to show us the ordinary women - upper, middle and working class - who had the breathtaking courage to stand up and be counted.

About The Author
Joyce Marlow was born and bred in Manchester. She started her working life as an actress before turning to full-time writing. Her published works include The Peterloo Massacre, The Tolpuddle Martyrs, Mr and Mrs Gladstone, Captain Boycott and the Irish, The Uncrowned Queen of Ireland: A Life of O'Shea and Kessie, Sarah, Anne - a trilogy of novels set around the First World War. She also edited The Virago Book of Women and the Great War. Married with two sons she lives in the High Peak district of Derbyshire.

Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

Votes For Women (Virago, 2000) Oct 00