The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History by Margot McMillen

The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History by Margot McMillen

Details the suffrage movement within Missouri and its key players, as well as important events that led to the passing of Amendment 19.

123 pages.

Bridging Two Eras: The Autobiography of Emily Newell Blair, 1877-1951, Edited by Virginia Laas

Bridging Two Eras: The Autobiography of Emily Newell Blair, 1877-1951, Edited by Virginia Laas

Emily Newell Blair, having lived through the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, viewed herself as a bridge builder. A dedicated feminist who successfully managed to be both a Midwestern housewife and an outspoken suffragist on the national scale, Emily wanted to give others a glimpse into life during the upheaval of transition. Emily's autobiography, written in 1939 and published in 1999, provides insight into her life in southwest Missouri, her career as a writer, and her progression through American politics.

382 pages. 

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a charming YA historical novel, set in London, 1909. It has an attention-grabbing first chapter and is full of old-fashioned British rebelliousness. The story focuses on the suffragettes who fought for women’s rights.

Today, we still talk about inequality for women. This novel puts it into perspective how far we have come, while reminding us that we still haven’t arrived, and people have to continue to fight for the things they believe in, even at the risk of being disliked, disrespected, or misunderstood.

Pages: 448

The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester

London, 1912, the suffragette movement is reaching fever pitch, and the police are desperate to stop them from causing civil disruption.  Women are hauled off to prison and subjected to force feeding.  Ribchester has used the suffragette movement and its major figures as a basis for a rather flamboyant murder mystery.  Our detective is a wannabe female journalist (yes, there were a few in that period), eager to get a story, who gets involved in the murder investigation when a trapeze artist/suffragette she is sent to do a story about disappears.  Ebony Diamond turns out to actually have been the target in two murders, and our intrepid hero, "Frankie" George sets out through the London underworld to find her.  The story has the feel of an early silent movie, with cliffhangers, plot twists, and a variety of offbeat characters.  While a bit of a romp through London, Ribchester has thoroughly researched the period and manages to give us a good feel the climate of the city during those days.  502 pages