Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
London ; New York : Viking, 2007.
Description
List of Illustrations. Introduction. 1. Where have all the young men gone?. 2. ""A world that doesn't want me"". 3. On the shelf. 4. Business girls. 5. Caring, sharing. 6. A grand feeling. 7. The magnificent regiment of Women. Notes on Sources. Select Biography. Acknowledgements. Index
User reviews
LibraryThing member bell7
In the British census of 1921, census takers found that there were nearly 2 million more women that men, largely because of the number of single young men that had died in World War 1. The single women of the time were known as the "Surplus Women," and in a time when marriage and children was the
In reading, I was most struck by the social stigma of being an unmarried woman. Many of these women truly had no choice, while others would have chosen the single life regardless, but the expectations were such that the unmarried were looked upon as failures. Some women were sorry they never married, particularly if their sweetheart had died during the war, but others gloried in their singlehood and wouldn't have had it any other way. Nicholson sometimes seemed too ready to assume that these women were unhappy (once surmising this even after quoting someone who said she was content). The individual stories of some well-known and other unsung women of a generation that hugely affected society's perception of the "spinster" were fascinating.
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expected lot of all women, the disparate numbers were a bit of a shock. Virginia Nicholson writes about several of these women who made their own ways in all walks of life from all classes. Drawing heavily on written and unwritten memoirs as well as some interviews with those women still living in the early part of the 21st century, she focuses on the personal stories of the "bachelor girls" who created social change between the World Wars.In reading, I was most struck by the social stigma of being an unmarried woman. Many of these women truly had no choice, while others would have chosen the single life regardless, but the expectations were such that the unmarried were looked upon as failures. Some women were sorry they never married, particularly if their sweetheart had died during the war, but others gloried in their singlehood and wouldn't have had it any other way. Nicholson sometimes seemed too ready to assume that these women were unhappy (once surmising this even after quoting someone who said she was content). The individual stories of some well-known and other unsung women of a generation that hugely affected society's perception of the "spinster" were fascinating.
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LibraryThing member tloeffler
What a fascinating book. In all of the WWI reading I've done, it never occurred to me to consider the women who would never marry because so many men had died. But this book does it. I think that her writing is a little haphazard--I couldn't find a lot of rhyme or reason to the sequence of it--but
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it really didn't matter a lot. There are stories of fairly famous women (Vera Brittain, Winifred Holtby, Elizabeth Goudge) and some who I had never heard of before, but all with the same theme: "This is what we've got. Let's see what we can do with it." Here are the original seeds of feminism. I had commented on the MO Readers group that this attitude could account for a lot of the women we have read about who were so independent and adventurous in the early 20th century. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who thinks the women's movement started in the 60s. There may have been a lull after WWII, and they thought they were the instigators, but they were wrong. Great book! Show Less
LibraryThing member Helenliz
This is a really interesting read. It details the situations faced and dealt with by the generation of women born in the UK between 1885 and 1905, those that came of age during the first world war an found themselves single due the the lack of available men. In a sense it is very sad, as a number
I knew very few of these women, although both the Great Grannies that I knew fell into this generation. In both cases, the war intervened and they both had their children significantly later than would have been the case. Great Granny Bloy (according to family legend) lost her boyfriend during the war, only to marry in her late 20s and have her children (including my Grandma) in her early 30s - late compared to the standards of the prewar age.
Not all of them chose to be single, not all of them enjoyed the life they led with no regrets, but all of them managed and carried on and made themselves useful to their families and to society as a whole. It is largely because of this generation that my generation leads a life they would not recognise.
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of them clearly long to have married and had children, but at the same time, without this generation of ground breakers women today would have a much harder life. it seems to me that the advances that took place at the instigation of this generation of women far exceeds that if the feminist movement or the women's lib of the 60s & 70s. I knew very few of these women, although both the Great Grannies that I knew fell into this generation. In both cases, the war intervened and they both had their children significantly later than would have been the case. Great Granny Bloy (according to family legend) lost her boyfriend during the war, only to marry in her late 20s and have her children (including my Grandma) in her early 30s - late compared to the standards of the prewar age.
Not all of them chose to be single, not all of them enjoyed the life they led with no regrets, but all of them managed and carried on and made themselves useful to their families and to society as a whole. It is largely because of this generation that my generation leads a life they would not recognise.
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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
An informative and well researched - though occasionally repetitive - account of the 'Surplus Women' of the 1920s, left behind after a generation of young men were killed during the First World War. The personal histories of larger than life personalities like author Winifred Holtby, archaeologist
Virginia Nicholson's history of 'how two million women survived without men after the First World War' is part ode, part lecture - if she recounts once how spinsters were viewed as sexually frustrated, sour-faced frumps, then she must do so in every chapter - but definitely required reading for every woman in the UK who takes for granted her 'right' to earn a living, have a family, or more often than not, do both.
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Gertrude Caton-Thompson and Bradford battleaxe Florence White, who campaigned for 'spinsters' pensions', are remarkable and inspiring. Whether they remained unmarried through situation or choice, these women chose to challenge the traditional role of wife and mother, much to the horror of complacent males everywhere. The industrious workforce of clever and capable young women who took over during the war years were suddenly and literally out of a job when the surviving soldiers returned home - but there weren't enough men to make honest women of them either. All praise to the pioneers mentioned by Nicholson who decided that the men couldn't have everything their way.Virginia Nicholson's history of 'how two million women survived without men after the First World War' is part ode, part lecture - if she recounts once how spinsters were viewed as sexually frustrated, sour-faced frumps, then she must do so in every chapter - but definitely required reading for every woman in the UK who takes for granted her 'right' to earn a living, have a family, or more often than not, do both.
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LibraryThing member lizchris
A very readable book about the "surplus women" left when so many young men were killed during World War I, something I'd never thought of before.
I found the first chapter most moving. One woman wrote in her memoirs about getting the letter about her fiance from the War Office. "I knew then that I
The book describes how these women lived, how they were treated, how many pushed boundaries and paved the way for future generations.
The book is anecdote-heavy, with lots of descriptions from memoirs and fiction of the lives of unmarried women. I was left wondering about other aspects, for example, with far fewer marriages from 1914 onwards, how did this affect the UK population for the next few generations?
I found the first chapter most moving. One woman wrote in her memoirs about getting the letter about her fiance from the War Office. "I knew then that I
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should die an old maid.... I was only 20 years old."The book describes how these women lived, how they were treated, how many pushed boundaries and paved the way for future generations.
The book is anecdote-heavy, with lots of descriptions from memoirs and fiction of the lives of unmarried women. I was left wondering about other aspects, for example, with far fewer marriages from 1914 onwards, how did this affect the UK population for the next few generations?
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LibraryThing member nocto
Full of interesting stories about the 'surplus women' left without husbands in the aftermath the first world war. For some of them this was a great freedom to pursue career paths, for others it was a lifelong despair at not having families of their own. But it's interesting to think about how
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different the world might be today if these women hadn't beaten out paths for women's lives in the twentieth century that didn't revolve around being a wife and a mother. I'm grateful that I live in a world where I have pretty much all the choices available to me. A good read. Show Less
LibraryThing member PuddinTame
Virginia Nicholson has used interviews, published and unpublished autobiographies, novels and various records and writings to tell the story of the “Surplus Women.” According to the 1921 British census, women outnumbered men by 2 million. Some of these women lost fiancés to World War I, some
One of the things that makes this book so superb is Nicholson's willingness to enter into the women's lives on their own terms rather than judging them either by contemporary standards or her own preferences. (Nicholson herself is married.) Sex left many of these women in a no-win situation: they were mentally ill if they remained virgins, and sluts if they didn't. She admires the courage of women who made the best of a bad deal, who broke professional barriers, who simply preferred their career to marriage. Many of the women in this book led lives of distinction and attained honors rarely given to women before this time. I think there should be at least a statue to Dame Caroline Haslett, who, along with other female engineers, was determined to create electrical labor-saving appliances to reduce the arduous and never-ending struggle to keep house.
In the United States, the 1950s brought a move to renewed domesticity and early marriage, partly as a reaction to World War II, and temporarily reversed many of the interwar social changes. If this happened in Britain, Nicholson does not address it, although many of her subjects also lived through that period; one wonders whether they felt that they lost ground.
An outstanding piece of social history, especially for those interested in 20th century history, World War I and its after effects, or women's history.
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were prevented from marrying by family responsibilities, and some simply were unable to find a mate. In a society where women were expected to marry and, unless poor, be supported by their husbands, this was a grave crisis, and suggestions to solve it included shipping British women to various places in the Commonwealth to find husbands. As Nicholson recounts, however, a great many women built their own, sometimes very unconventional lives as spinsters, and help create enormous change in British society in the process.One of the things that makes this book so superb is Nicholson's willingness to enter into the women's lives on their own terms rather than judging them either by contemporary standards or her own preferences. (Nicholson herself is married.) Sex left many of these women in a no-win situation: they were mentally ill if they remained virgins, and sluts if they didn't. She admires the courage of women who made the best of a bad deal, who broke professional barriers, who simply preferred their career to marriage. Many of the women in this book led lives of distinction and attained honors rarely given to women before this time. I think there should be at least a statue to Dame Caroline Haslett, who, along with other female engineers, was determined to create electrical labor-saving appliances to reduce the arduous and never-ending struggle to keep house.
In the United States, the 1950s brought a move to renewed domesticity and early marriage, partly as a reaction to World War II, and temporarily reversed many of the interwar social changes. If this happened in Britain, Nicholson does not address it, although many of her subjects also lived through that period; one wonders whether they felt that they lost ground.
An outstanding piece of social history, especially for those interested in 20th century history, World War I and its after effects, or women's history.
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LibraryThing member tututhefirst
The premise was a sound one. The author is an academic who served as a documentary researcher for BBC television. Her research background glows in this book, but for me it simply pulled me down into a quagmire of tons upon tons of details. If one story could have made her point, she chose to give
If you are a detail oriented person who needs lots of reinforcement to prove points, this one is for you. It's an important work in its thesis, and worth at least a look-see. It certainly covers an important aspect of how this War changed the way women were regarded and regarded themselves.
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us three or four examples. It was like waiting for a train to pull away from the platform--- it just never developed enough steam to hold my attention. It often rang of the poor dears in DOWNTON ABBEY who just couldn't quite figure out what to do with all these women. As a result, I found myself reading the first three or four paragraphs of each section, and then skimming. I also think because I had already started reading Vera Britain's Testament of Youth where the author was experiencing many of these same issues but reporting them in much more elegant prose that I just couldn't settle into this one.If you are a detail oriented person who needs lots of reinforcement to prove points, this one is for you. It's an important work in its thesis, and worth at least a look-see. It certainly covers an important aspect of how this War changed the way women were regarded and regarded themselves.
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LibraryThing member PetreaBurchard
An interesting subject, told with care. I wish it had been better organized, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
xiv, 312 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
9780670915644