Suffragette Autumn Women's Spring

“If someone were to ask of me when I became a Suffragette, I would not say it was today because it was not. I would tell them it was in a lifeboat. It just took me till now to understand that.”

This story begins in spectacular, if shocking fashion, aboard the Titanic as it’s sinking. An important scene, which Ruby later realises was the genesis of her becoming a Suffragette, takes place in a lifeboat. Ruby and Nashey are left traumatised and horrified – not just by the disaster itself, but by the failures of the ship’s officers. Ruby is also profoundly affected by the misplaced trust in, and subservience to, these men.

Readers are then taken to New York, and on to Halifax, Nova Scotia, before the novel unfolds in Suffragette London, 1912-1914. Much of the story takes place within the militant struggle for Votes for Women, into which both main characters become drawn through different avenues. Ruby gets involved in Mrs Pankhurst’s WSPU, which sees her imprisoned, hunger-striking and being force-fed. Nashey is initially interested in social change rather than the vote – but a different Pankhurst working down in the East End impresses upon him that the former will follow the latter.

Through the five p’s – publicity stunts, protests, political speeches, prison torture and police tactics – we see the lengths to which the women and the government went to ensure they would prevail. A main character then questions the direction the movement is taking. But out of this Suffragette autumn comes a women’s spring…

“I have a particular interest in women’s 19th/early 20th century history, so thought the Suffragettes were an obvious subject on which to base my second novel. Many of the women inspired me, none more so that Sylvia Pankhurst, particularly during her years in the East End,” says author Ian Porter.