Sarah C. Williams, When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women, John Murray Press | Hodder & Stoughton, Sep 12 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Reading the first three chapters raised a question for me – can I respond positively to this biography coming as I do from a feminist rather than theological perspective? For the emphasis on theological thought and Josephine and George’s religious commitment at this point in the book is vast. The feminist points that have been made, the couple’s commitment to an equal marriage and Josphine Butler’s disappointment that the Oxford thinkers she met were without any feminist understanding, are addressed only briefly. I persevered as I was particularly interested in Butler’s response to the Contagious Disease Act, and Act that really makes for thorough feminist thought and examination.

Chapter 4, seeing justice, Liverpool, 1866-69, provides a welcome change. Highlighting the city’s features, combined with the couple’s professional life (George) and the life Josephine sought outside her family duties, widens the perspective of the biography. Josephine’s connection with the workhouse remains religious, but the move into recognising her language as different from that of other middle-class women who became involved with ‘fallen women’ is not only based in religion, but in feminist principles. She rejects the stereotype that places women into categories (moral and immoral) based on their sexuality. Significantly, she argues that the categorisation that placed some women into an impure category had its basis in neither religion nor science. From here she becomes actively involved with the Contagious Disease Acts, in place since 1864.

Lock Hospitals, where women with sexually transmitted diseases were incarcerated, put the blame squarely on women. Prostitution, not necessarily proven, was enough to promote enforced violent examination of a woman. Men, possibly infected, remained free. Butler, depending on the importance of sexual equality, fought the acts. That her belief in equality is based in her religious understanding does not limit the value of the arguments made here to a purely feminist perspective. It is here that theological emphasis of this biography, although remaining the overriding theme, allows for a non-theologian to find value.

Reading from a feminist rather than a theological perspective, I found this biography a useful and educational read. That religion played such a significant role in Josephine Butler’s approach to finding and advocating justice for women provides an important perspective on both theological and feminist principles. It has produced a mixed response from me and could well do so for other readers whose religious beliefs are diverse. While I appreciated the demands put upon me throughout, others will feel that they are too great to get value from the narrative. Yet other readers will be eminently satisfied and find such demands are secondary or non-existent.

A complicated read for a feminist indeed.

This is an interesting, enlightening, and encouraging book! I had never heard of Josephine Butler before. Sarah Williams does an exceptional job bringing this historic woman to life! And what a life! She has times of joy and sorrow. These times strengthen her faith in God. She often reaches out to others while she's suffering to help them out of their horrible circumstances.

This book has encouraged me to remember the power of prayer! Josephine commits a lot of her time to prayer. Her prayers move mountains. "But above all we see her understanding of prayer embodied in her life, and through this subtle portrait she shows her readers how to reconnect the outer life of political action with the inner life of spiritual contemplation."

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from Hodder & Stoughton via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"When Courage Calls" is a biography of Josephine Butler. I knew she'd done much to help women (especially children) trapped in prostitution. She was able to bring together people that normally wouldn't work together and even gathered support for similar work in Europe. I had expected much of the biography to be focused on the details of that work, and the book did cover some of that.

However, Josephine's faith played a motivating role in why she did what she did, so much of this book covered Josephine's Christian faith and the role she felt that prayer played in political activism. She wrote several books about other people, which we're told about and which provided several quotes that showed what she believed. There were also some quotes from various speeches she gave along with a summary of what she said and was trying to accomplish.

This biography was more of an overview of her life and beliefs rather than full of details and action. Perhaps those details no longer exist as Josephine refused to write about herself. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting biography.

“The most distinguished Englishwoman of the 19th century.”
Who would you peg for that title? Florence Nightingale…Elizabeth Blackwood…or even Queen Victoria herself?
Well, you would be wrong. Millicent Fawcett, writing in 1927 wrote this about Josephine Butler! Have you heard of Josephine Butler? I hadn’t until I read “When Courage Calls.”
The book is the remarkable story of a petite, fragile Victorian women who campaigned for the abolition of the Contagious Diseases Act of 1864, fought for gender equality, befriended sex workers discarded by society, and was influential in raising the age of sexual consent. Indeed, Butler was prepared to accept excommunication from polite society to further the rights of those seen as the dregs of society.
So why is Josephine Butler not better known? The author eloquently outlines how Butler was an extremely spiritual and religious woman, who was guided by prayer to answer God’s call. However, she was regarded as ‘too feminist’ for Christians, and ‘too religious’ for the feminists, and so in posterity neither group laid claim to her.
When Courage Calls tells the story of a very human woman, wife, and mother; who through prayer felt called to do extraordinary things and was gifted at writing, speaking, campaigning, and drawing people together.
This is a fascinating book about a little-known woman who did marvellous things, but had no interest in the plaudits of the material world. Ironically, it should be read by anyone curious about religion and prayer, and also feminists, or the overlap of that Venn diagram. It is a detailed biography, and I admit that I did skip some of the deeper theological texts (not my area of interest) and some readers may find it heavy in places. However, the book is well worth persisting with to gain a deep understanding of a most remarkable woman.

A biography of one of history's forgotten feminist campaigners, Josephine Butler nee Grey, which centers on Butler's deep religious faith. Josephine's belief in God was one of the mainstays of her life & a well of inspiration & strength throughout. Whether it was campaigning for the increasing of the age of consent or the fight to overturn the deeply misogynistic 'Contagious Diseases Act 1864', her faith was intertwined with her political work. In fact this is given by the author as one of the reasons why Josephine Butler is no longer a household name - she was considered by later feminists as too religious & by Christians as too feminist & so her legacy was allowed to fade into the background.

What an interesting read! I wasn't familiar with Josephine Butler before reading this, but what a courageous lady she turned out to be. Alongside a small number of friends & acquaintances, she took on the British 'establishment' (& some in other countries), at the cost of former friends & even physical threats from those whose livelihood in the trafficking of young girls & women for the sex trade she was threatening. Butler even found time to write several books including one on the life of the Christian saint, Catherine of Siena. This is a well-researched, well-written account of a formidable woman who deserves to be remembered.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, John Murray Press/Hodder & Stoughton, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Josephine Butler (1828-1906), an early heroine of British feminism, is best known for campaigning against the 19th-century Contagious Diseases Acts (which legalised women suspected of working as prostitutes being forcibly examined for venereal disease, and detained until cured if infected) and was instrumental in these being repealed.

This new biography, by cultural historian Sarah C. Williams, focuses on Josephine Butler's spirituality, and argues that her Christian faith was intrinsic to her pursuit of social reform. Williams suggests that this religious element appeared "problematic" to later generations of feminists, while conversely Butler was also "too feminist for the Christian camp." This, argues Williams, has led to Butler being a rather neglected figure, relative to her achievements, though the tide is starting to turn. (There might also be an element of squeamishness about the issues Butler campaigned about- a figure like Florence Nightingale is easier to do a school assembly about).

I liked the author's passionate belief in the significance of Josephine Butler - "This woman needs to be known and her voice heard". I also liked that the book engaged with Butler on her own terms, for example, the importance of prayer to her way of life and way of thinking. It made an argument for her continued relevance to contemporary issues without seeking to present her as preternaturally modern. The book also raises an interesting methodological issue: how to study and examine something as personal and intimate as prayer, especially when the evidence is "partial and limited."

While I already admired Josephine Butler, having seen a documentary about her a few years ago, I learnt a lot from this in-depth biography. What Butler was contending with is still shocking. This anecdote stood out: "In April 1870 she met a prostitute who had chosen to go to prison rather than submit to the terms of the Acts. Butler heard how the magistrate who committed the woman to prison had a few days earlier paid her several shillings for sex. Butler responded by writing to all the magistrates she knew who had consorted with women to inform them that if they did not stop persecuting these women, she would speak openly about the nature of their relationships with these girls."

The book mixes traditional, chronological biography and in-depth academic analysis. It is not an "easy read", but it has a fascinating subject in Josephine Butler, is thought-provoking, and makes a strong central argument for the importance of her faith.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This is a well-written, thorough, and thoughtful biography of one of history's forgotten heroines. I can't believe I've never heard of Josephine Butler. This book is both heartbreaking and inspiring, portraying how Butler's faith, family, and marriage motivated her to help the under-served even as she faced enormous personal difficulties. I will be recommending it to all of my friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free eARC; I post this review with my honest opinions. This review is cross-posted to Goodreads and Amazon.