Set in the early days of the Suffragette movement in the early 1900’s, Dollie Baxter, a curious teenager, lets us into the diary of her new life from destitute working class family to ward of a very rich matriarch and all the opportunities this brings her. Given by her mother in one of the poorest parts of the East End of London to a rich family after her father, who worked for them, dies, Dollie is taken into a life of luxury, education, and manners. The campaigning of the Suffragettes makes the news and peaks Dollies attention but she is warned away by her new relatives, some of whom support the cause of the suffragists but not any militant action. Dollie promises she will not get involved yet finds herself visiting the ‘Women’s Social and Political Union’ offices and is soon selling their newspapers and handing out leaflets on the streets of London.
Although this book is a work of fiction, it cleverly winds itself into an introduction to the story of the Suffragettes and the reality of their campaign for Women’s right to vote in both peaceful and militant actions. Dollie is introduced to the Pankhursts, is arrested, and tells of the treatment of Suffragette prisoners who chose to go on hunger strike and are brutally force fed.
This is a book aimed at young adults and is a good introduction to the Suffragette movement and the nature of the class system in Britain at the time, and is as enjoyable and easy to follow as Dollys passion for Womens rights.
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