Natalie [genreneutralreader] asked Jacqueline Winspear:

First I wanted to tell you that I love Maisie Dobbs so much, I named my new puppy after her! Through reading the whole series,one thing I have wondered about is your perspective on women "having it all". Is it possible for women to be brilliant and ahead-of-her-time career-women, while also having personal happiness and fufillment? It seems to be that Maisie is doomed to only have one. Please tell me there is hope!

Jacqueline Winspear Hello Natalie. How lovely - a puppy named Maisie. You join quite a cadre of readers - over the years I have received messages letting me know that puppies, kittens, foals, baby girls - and even cars - have been named Maisie! I believe Secretary Hillary Clinton has named her dog Maisie! Now to your question - and I am not sure I have the qualifications to answer such a big question, one that has been echoed by women for many, many years now. I think it's possible for a woman to have as much as she can handle, but I also believe every woman has the right to change and grow in terms of what she believes she wants in life. Every woman is different. For many, having that career brings much happiness, fulfillment and community, and for others it doesn't work. These things are inclined to change as one grows older and I think we come to believe that "having it all" isn't like being in a store and just loading up with goods. Having it all is having life be as you would like it to be and feeling as if you fit in your own shoes. It's being engaged with an endeavor that inspires you (which doesn't have to be your work), and in having people you love close by. But regarding Maisie Dobbs - do remember there is an historical point to be made here. In Britain a woman of Maisie's era might find it very difficult to find a life partner given the sheer numbers of young men of marriageable age who perished in the Great War, or who came home severely wounded or profoundly shell-shocked. The 1921 census in Britain revealed that there were some 2 million "surplus women" for whom there would never be a husband and children - and those women had to take care of their financial security for the rest of their lives, they had to create friendships to sustain them as they grew older, and they had to be part of a community or be invisible. It was an extraordinary generation of women - nicely summed up in Virginia Nicholson's book, "Singled Out" which was published about 10 years ago, and is very worthwhile reading. It will inspire you! And as Maisie Dobbs has grown and changed, she most definitely has had personal happiness and fulfillment - but those things can come in waves, and most assuredly the tide will come in again.

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