Rebel Women

by Evelyn Sharp

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Short Stories

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1910

About the author

Born in 1869, in London, Evelyn Sharp was the daughter of slate merchant James Sharp, and the sister of Cecil Sharp, who would later gain fame as a folksong collector, and leader of the folkdance revival. She was educated at Strathallan House, and - despite passing the Cambridge Higher Local Examination in history - at a finishing school in Paris. Against the wishes of her family, Sharp moved to London in 1894, where she became a journalist and an author, publishing a number of books for both children and adults.

A member of the Women's Industrial Council and the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, as well as the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), Sharp was a prominent activist in the Women's Suffrage movement, arrested twice, and once going on hunger strike. She edited the Votes for Women suffrage journal, and also had strong pacifist views. Sharp married her long-time friend and lover, Henry Nevinson, in 1933, and continued to work for the social causes in which she believed. She died in 1955.

Reviews

[Perry Whitford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rebel women of the title are the Suffragettes of the early part of the 20th century, the author a children's writer turned active participant in the good cause, the book a collection of articles published in various magazines focusing on different scenes from the struggle.

Sharp describes the political rallies, canvassing, acts of conversion at home and on the streets, and the more militant action outside the House of Commons, leading to arrests and convictions at the magistrate's court, all with a partial yet rounded eye, as well as a keen sense of humour.

She gives the skeptics and hecklers plenty of room in her observations, their fascination and fear ("Is she one of them?" is a phrase that turns up more than once) converted into a rich source of bigotry and comedy.

The work itself had its amusing side too, such as when Sharp's posse tried parading around in sandwich-boards for the first time:

"If anything or anybody were to unhorse us and make us bite the dust—isn't that what belted knights were always doing to one another in the Middle Ages?—we should have to lie on our backs, as they did, till some one came and picked us up."

It's worth remembering that less than a hundred years ago women in the oldest established democracy in the world still did not have the vote. It was women as brave and committed as Sharp who helped change that.

This is an interesting read from a historical aspect. The fact that Sharp was a smart and slyly humorous writer to boot only enhanced the pleasure.

[Flexanimous · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a novella than a full-length book, but a sharply-written little book and a handy reminder of what things were once like. Some of the parts are still depressingly familiar, such as when a woman in the book is told that men would give her the vote if only she wasn't so loud and demanding about it.