Product Description

In 1919, a generation of young women discovered that there were, quite simply, not enough men to go round, and the statistics confirmed it. After the 1921 Census, the press ran alarming stories of the 'Problem of the Surplus Women - Two Million who can never become Wives...'. This book is about those women, and about how they were forced, by a tragedy of historic proportions, to stop depending on men for their income, their identity and their future happiness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1541 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'This in an inspiring book, lovingly researched, well-written and humane... the period is beautifully caught' The Economist 'Brave, humane and honest' The Observer 'Remarkably perceptive and well-researched ... Virginia Nicholson has produced another extraordinarily interesting work, sensitive, intelligent and well-written' The Sunday Telegraph 'This is a ground-breaking book, richly nuanced with titbits of information, insight and understanding' The Daily Mail

Synopsis
In 1919, a generation of young women discovered that there were, quite simply, not enough men to go round, and the statistics confirmed it. After the 1921 Census, the press ran alarming stories of the 'Problem of the Surplus Women - Two Million who can never become Wives...'. This book is about those women, and about how they were forced, by a tragedy of historic proportions, to stop depending on men for their income, their identity and their future happiness.

About the Author
Virginia Nicholson was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She has worked as a documentary researcher for BBC Television and her first book, Charleston -- A Bloomsbury House and Garden (written in collaboration with her father, Quentin Bell), was an account of the Sussex home of her grandmother, the painter Vanessa Bell. Her second book, Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939, was published by Penguin in 2002. She lives in Sussex.

Customer Reviews

A Land Fit for Heroines
Unlike a previous reviewer I thought there really was a representative cross section of women featured in the book, and the author came up with some quite obscure biographical details to bring the situations of women in the twenties and thirties alive. What comes across is the genuine sense of loss that some felt at being denied the chance of having a family, and the often ground-breaking successes they achieved once they decided to channel their energies in other directions. The last chapter which records these achievements is particularly uplifting, and the author herself conveys a quiet pride in what they did.

Barbara
I was eagerly awaiting this ore-ordered book but found it largely disappointing. There was insufficient writing/analysis about anything other than the upper classes and it would have been much more fascinating to have learnt more about the women in this country in general and their ways of accepting their "...survival without men after WW1".

Wonderful
This is a fascinating book. I could not put it down. It is so beautifully and accessibly written with such intriguing and poignant real life stories.