Welcome to Agatha Christie month on She Wrote Too. In this episode, we speak with Dr Sarah Martin and Dr Jamie Bernthal who, with fellow academic Christie enthusiasts, run Golden Age Mysteries.  They are both experts on all things Agatha Christie.  Dr Martin has a PhD in female detective novels and  Dr Bernthal is also an academic writer and novelist who writes the Jessica Brick books. Rather importantly, they are both very generous people who took time out of their busy lives to speak to...

This month is a celebration of women artists - other than writers - as Caroline and Nicola visited the Tate Britain exhibition, Now You See Us.  It was striking that, as with women writers, women artists were often denied training or access to resources and dismissed as merely pursuing hobbies.  There were many commercially successful women artists in the 400 years that this exhibition focused on despite all the barriers and challenges they faced.  In this episode, we discuss paintings that...

We discuss the life and selected works of the famous poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (EBB) 1806—1861. That is, she was famous at the time - so highly critically acclaimed that she was short-listed for the position of poet Laureate. Yet, in the early 20th Century, she was more or less ignored by the poetry critics who were happy for her to live in the shadow of Robert Browning. We also talk about the most recent biography of EBB by Fiona Sampson, Two Way Mirror. The last biography was in...

In this episode Caroline and Nicola discuss the multi-talented Clemence Dane who cannot be limited to just one title -  she did write, extensively and well.  An actor, teacher, sculptor, broadcaster, screenwriter and popular social woman with many talented friends which reflected her own creativity.  She was also a talented artist - a self-portrait and portrait of Noel Coward are shown on this page.  She was the first woman screenwriter to win an Oscar.  She was also awarded a CBE.  She was...

Caroline and Nicola talk with Paul Kerensa, comedian, broadcaster, writer and host of podcast The British Broadcasting Century about this clever one act comedy.  As they discuss, the play could not deal with political matters explicity on the radio at that time - and yet, in a comedic way it deals with matters of class and gender along with societal expectation in an amusing and entertaining way. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

10 Clowning Street by Joan S. Dugdale is published in the Metheun Drama Book of Suffrage Plays .  It tells the story of an anti-suffragist Prime Minister - who we do not meet immediately because he is taking a relaxing salt bath - and his brilliant plan to stop the suffragettes by introducing a compulsory National Work for Women scheme under which all single women over 21 are to work full-time.  Satisfied that these weary women will have no energy left to pester him anymore for the vote, he...

An early feminist novel set in South Africa in 1883, this book is an interesting and unusual literary work. It is a generic hybrid in that in some ways it is new woman fiction whilst also having many other elements such as Dickensian farce, spiritual musings, gothic elements and melodrama. It follows three central characters from their childhood in South Africa to their adults lives exploring their development and ideas as well as their love interests and encounters with other interesting...

In this episode of She Wrote Too, we welcome a special guest, novelist and booktuber, Katie Lumsden to discuss Amy Dillwyn’s The Rebecca Rioter. Katie wrote The Secrets of Hartwood Hall a gothic novel set in Victorian England. Her new novel, The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hall, is available for pre-order now and will be out in July. We discuss the novel, The background to the Rebecca Riots and a little of Amy Dillwyn’s life. Katie mentions an article Professor Kirsti Bohata. ‘A...

Amy Lowell 1874 - 1925 was an American poet, writer, editor, speaker, activist and campaigner. She wrote in excess of 650 poems many of which would be classified as Imagist poems. In this episode of She Wrote Too, we consider a little about her life, the Imagist movement and explore four of Lowell’s poems. Amy Lowell among her Contemporaries by Carl Rollyson is an insightful read for anyone with an interest in Lowell’s life as she suffered from some hostile accounts from some of her...

Welcome to the second of our podcasts in 2024, as we are now riding the fourth wave of feminism, we look back at the literature of the early days of the movement when women were writing - and writing very well in Victorian times and at the outset of the 20th Century - but were neglected by the canon as time went on. In this new series, we will be considering some of the reasons behind that - including deliberate sabotage campaigns. In this episode, we are looking at the utopian novel by...

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Gertrude Jennings (1877–1958) was a prolific playwright throughout her long life. She mainly wrote comedies which, whilst being entertaining and funny, often dealt with weighty issues such as class, suffrage and political matters - with a light touch and veneer of frivolity. This play, as with many of her others, is in one act and would be straightforward to stage. In this episode we consider how effectively Jennings creates interesting and engaging characters whilst dismantling...

This episode involves a look at a satirical and witty collection of poetry providing commentary on the women's suffrage movement, which was advocating for women's right to vote at the time. We enjoyed the use of humour and irony to make a compelling argument for women's suffrage by highlighting the contradictions in how society perceives women. The title poem was a part of the broader suffrage movement in the United States, which ultimately led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in...

This episode explores the novel True Love by Sarah E Farro, one of the earliest African-American novelists. Farro’s novel is set in England, a place that she had never visited - although had clearly read much about. We discuss her interesting life, our thoughts on the novel and why we think this work still needs to be celebrated. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shewrotetoo.substack.com

In this episode we consider a book first published in India in 1905 in Colonial Bengal. The story was published in Bengali newspapers and was well recognised as a witty and interesting tale of reverse purdah. As such, it is a utopian tale in which the women are in control and are in charge of all major institutions of the public sphere. The text is available online as a free to read online version. It is a short read as you may expect from a story in a newspaper. We refer to the book...

In this surprisingly contemporary 19th Century novel, "The Romance of a Shop," Amy Levy vibrantly evokes a scene of late 19th-century London, where we join the story of four remarkable women who must struggle against societal expectations, realise their own ambitions and perhaps find love . Set against the backdrop of a bustling shop, this novel explores the tapestry of love, friendship, and the pursuit of a fulfilling life in a world where women are expected to be satisfied with a domestic...

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