I’ve always been interested in the history of clothing and costume – note, I’m avoiding using the word “fashion” here. As I grew into my teen years, I raided clothing tucked away at the back of my mother’s wardrobe – a few “Before I was married to your father” garments that were purchased long before a time of throwaway fashion. I also haunted vintage clothing stalls at Kensington Market on those rare occasions my pal Anne-Marie and I managed to persuade our parents to let us go up to London alone for the day. It was a bit of a hippy...
The Woman Who Saved America from Thalidomide
In 1977 my brother, 17 at the time, was at a college not far from the flat I shared with my pal, Corinne, so he sometimes came to visit us (and be fed). One day we were walking along the street, when a girl about his age caught his eye. “That girl is so beautiful,” he said—and he was right. He plucked up courage and crossed the road to chat her up. She agreed to go for a cup of tea with him and I was left with the shopping bags. But here’s something I noticed—the girl had no arms, just “flippers” where her arms and hands might have been. She...
Let’s Not Airbrush A Brilliant Artist!
It’s interesting, that amid an increasing focus on women’s history — or perhaps I should say, an increasing spotlight into the lives of women who have hitherto been left out of HIStory — one amazing woman’s legacy has been undermined. As children many of you may well have been familiar with the world of illustrator Kate Greenaway. Of course, you might not have known her name, but her work was unmistakable. Almost as soon as I was given my library ticket at around three years of age, I made a beeline for any book bearing her distinctive...
You Don’t Belong Here
I’ve always liked stories with what I would call an “ensemble cast” — you know, the ones that bring together the “old gang” again or tie together a motley crew of individuals, from The Magnificent Seven to Enchanted April to Ocean’s Eight. That interest takes me right into non-fiction — I’m drawn to books that highlight the phenomenon of women who happen to have been in the same place at roughly the same time and who may or may not have known one another, yet in their way were part of an extraordinary cadre of achievers. I loved Square...
Women Gardeners and the Remembrance of War
As many of you know, I have been writing about the women in wartime for some 20 years now, in both fiction and non-fiction. In my newsletters I have written about the way in which women did more than simply keep the home fires burning – for example, during WW1 a letter posted in Britain to a soldier entrenched in France could reach him within a couple of days, not only due to the swift processing of mail in Britain, but in France. A forces post office set up in Le Havre at war’s outset had extended to encompass some five acres by war’s end...
A Bit of Witchery
If there is one word guaranteed to bring some level of emotion to people, it’s “witch.” There were those who burned the Harry Potter books due to the appearance of broomsticks and so-called “magic” – though J.K. Rowling didn’t mind at all, because to burn books you have to buy them first. I think she said words to the effect of “Bring it on” – and who could blame her? And who doesn’t want to believe in a little magic every now and again? However, I remember the first time I realized the depth of tragedy in the accusation of being a witch....
Hands That Do Dishes – Can Do So Much More!
Among the many inventions I’m grateful to have enjoyed during my lifetime, high on the list would be the dishwasher. Penicillin is my #1 invention, because without it I would have been dead at 15 months old! I bought my first dishwasher when I was thirty-two, and really fed up with washing dishes. No one I knew had a dishwasher when I was growing up in Britain. Even the rich people I worked for (as a nanny, cleaner, general dogsbody) didn’t have a dishwasher. Dishwashers were “one of those American things.” In fact, from the time I could...
Women in a Man’s World
Those of you who have read A Sunlit Weapon, my latest novel, may remember a small point made about the carburetor in the Merlin engine, as used on the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft. In the early days of the war, that carburetor had a dangerous fault. When the aircraft went into a dive – a common tactic during an air-battle or dogfight if the pilot wanted to avoid being shot down – the carburetor would flood, causing the aircraft to stall. Young pilots were being killed time and time again due to this fault. For those who managed to get...
Welcome to WomenSong
Many of you will remember that some years ago I began a blog dedicated to women’s history, women’s lives and women’s accomplishments. My intention was to focus on the little known heroines of the past and present—with many of those heroines being women who went about their lives without ever thinking of themselves as anything but “ordinary.” After a while family responsibilities began to take more and more of my time, along with my work as a professional writer, so the blog was pushed to a back burner and eventually taken offline. But I...
Home
The WomenSong Blog is my indulgence—a chance to write about women’s lives from the past to the present. I plan to write not only about women whose names are well known, but women with unheralded accomplishments. Many visitors to this blog will know that I have been interested in women’s history since childhood—since I created my first book at the age of eight. It was a task set in class, for each pupil to produce a “topic book” on something we were interested in. We had to not only research and write the content (though the word “research” was not used—instead it was called “Finding out”), and we created the cover in our art and craft lessons, finally stitching the pages and boards together. Finally we had to present our topic to the class. I loved making that book—and it opened a window for me. Though the women in my “Famous Women” topic book were all well known, as time went on, I became equally interested in women whose accomplishments had been forgotten or never acknowledged. So, as noted, this is my indulgence, a chance to write about the lives of women. I hope you enjoy the posts.
