The first book about a generation of women writers who challenged the
world.
Make this your next inspirational read. Trust us, it's Oprah's Book
Club worthy.--Vice
In London in 1958, a play by a 19-year-old redefined women's writing in
Britain. It also began a movement that would change women's lives
forever. The play was A Taste of Honey and the author, Shelagh
Delaney, was the first in a succession of young women who wrote about
their lives with an honesty that dazzled the world. They rebelled
against sexism, inequality and prejudice and in doing so challenged the
existing definitions of what writing and writers should be. Bypassing
the London cultural elite, their work reached audiences of millions
around the world, paved the way for profound social changes and laid the
foundations of second-wave feminism.
After Delaney came Edna O'Brien, Lynne Reid-Banks, Charlotte Bingham,
Nell Dunn, Virginia Ironside and Margaret Forster; an extraordinarily
disparate group who were united in their determination to shake the
traditional concepts of womanhood in novels, films, television, essays
and journalism. They were as angry as the Angry Young Men, but were also
more constructive and proposed new ways to live and love in the future.
They did not intend to become a literary movement but they did,
inspiring other writers to follow. Not since the Brontës have a group of
young women been so determined to tell the truth about what it is like
to be a girl.
In this biographical study, the acclaimed author, Celia Brayfield, tells
their story for the first time.
