Singled Out: How Two Million Women Survived without Men After the First World War

Description

Before the First World War a single woman had one aim in life- to get married. But three-quarters of a million British soldiers were killed in that war, leaving not enough men to go round and a generation of so-called 'Surplus Women'. What became of them? And how did they overcome their disappointment? Singled Out explores the extraordinary lives these women made for themselves. It tells how they challenged conventions - becoming engineers and explorers; how they campaigned to better the lot; how they coped with poverty, childlessness and frustration. Above all, it shows how women proved there is more to life than men and helped change our society.

Virginia Nicholson was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After studying at Cambridge University she lived in France and Italy and then worked as a documentary researcher for BBC Television. Her first book, Charleston - A Bloomsbury House and Garden (written in collaboration with her father, Quentin Bell), was an account of the Sussex home of her grandmother, the painter Vanessa Bell. Books published by Penguin include Among the Bohemians- Experiments in Living 1900-1939 and Singled Out- How Two Million Women Survived without Men After the First World War. She is married and has three children.

This is a ground-breaking book, richly nuanced with titbits of information, insight and understanding The Daily Mail Remarkably perceptive and well-researched ... Virginia Nicholson has produced another extraordinarily interesting work, sensitive, intelligent and well-written The Sunday Telegraph This in an inspiring book, lovingly researched, well-written and humane... the period is beautifully caught The Economist Brave, humane and honest The Observer