Thank you so much for inviting me on your blog. I’ll tell you a little about what I’ve written.
Women affected by World War One
More than 700,000 British men were killed
during World War One, and women suffered badly from bereavement, grieving for
their lost loved ones. More than a million women never found a man to marry, or
the opportunity to bear children. They came to accept they never would have
any, their lives having changed forever. They felt lonely with solitary lives
and many lost their jobs, once the war was over. At least 750,000 women were
made redundant in 1918. All men who returned were highly given priority, and
even if a woman had children to care for, and no husband, she would still find
it extremely difficult to gain a job.
Many began to seek careers, the facility to
be able to vote and the opportunity to live their own life. They also wanted
the freedom to enjoy themselves by going to the picture-palace or the
palais-de-danse, if they wished of an evening. They weren’t interested in going
back to being servants or maids, they either wished to keep the job they’d
worked on during the war, or find a better one with good pay to care for
themselves or any children they might have. Unfortunately they were not granted
equal pay, and had no right to vote until 1918 when a
law granted
that ability to those over thirty who owned property.
Even those women who were married, their
task now was to stay home, cook, clean and care for their family and be a
dutiful wife. Their husbands generally felt ashamed of having her working and employers agreed and sacked
them. Men saw themselves as the ruling section of society. But some men who had
survived were likely to have been injured, maimed, or psychologically damaged,
and their wives needed to be the one to work and care for them too.
There were many surplus women after the
war. Those lucky enough to have secure financial independence often had no wish
to hand it over to a husband and become ruled by him. Others felt desperate for
a husband, but suffered loneliness, virginity, no children, grief for lost
loved ones, or the loss of their job and rights. My books usually has a strong woman as the main character - who must
succeed against all odds. She can be found fighting against the difficulty of
her life, aspiring to better herself, and battling against the restrictions and
prejudices of the time or whatever other dire circumstances she finds herself
in. She must pit good against evil and win by her own efforts, no matter what
she has suffered or lost along the way. Cecily greatly believed this,
attempted to help her sister and women battling to achieve an improvement in
their life. As a member of the suffragists, she was happy to assist local women
who risked going on strike in order to earn more money.
Excerpt from Girls of the Great War:
It came to Cecily that
having been involved with the suffrage movement for so long, she could possibly
attempt to assist them in this battle.
‘Are you managing to resolve
this problem?’ she asked Sally Fielding, one of her former tram workers. A
group of them were standing on the Old Town Street holding posters high, one
stating: Is a Woman’s Place in the Home? Another said: We Believe in Equality. ‘I can
understand why I was not granted my job back on the trams, having been away
entertaining the troops in France. Those of you who’ve worked for them
throughout the war should have that right.’
‘Indeed we should,’ Sally agreed. ‘They accuse us of having
less strength and more health problems than men. Absolute tosh! The bloody
government treats us like servants. We were doing our bit for the duration of
the war but are now being dismissed and replaced by men they consider to be
more skilled. We women have worked damned hard and done well. They see us as
less productive, which we’re most definitely not and surely have the right to
the same pay.’
‘Did you join a trade union?’ Cecily asked.
‘We did indeed. Once we’d registered to work in the war,
why would we not protect ourselves? It was recommended we do that when we were
sent a leaflet issued by the War Emergency Workers’ National Committee.’
‘Are you managing to provide some funds for unpaid women on
strike?’
‘Not very well,’ Sally said, pulling a face.
‘Right, I’ll help with that.’ She remained with them for
the remainder of the day. Taking off one of her boots she held it out to
passers-by, begging a donation as a token of their support . When dusk fell she
handed over a fair sum of money to Sally. ‘I’ll try to collect more tomorrow.
How long will this strike last?’
‘Maybe just a couple of days this week. Then if we don’t
get anywhere, even longer next.’
‘I’ll be there to join you,’ she promised.
Cecily continued to spend time
each day assisting more women by raising money to provide them with an income,
as they received none while on strike. It felt such a satisfaction, giving her
a fresh purpose in life. Despite the troubles they were enduring she too sorely
missed the work she’d been involved with during the war, and her talent. She
wrote a brief letter to Boyd, to tell him of her satisfaction in helping these
women on strike, being a suffragist. She sorely missed him too.
‘Can I do anything more to help?’ she asked her friend
Sally.
‘Aye, you could write a newspaper report depicting our
success and why we deserve to receive the same rate of bonus that is being
given to men workers, as a result of the war.’
‘I’ll be happy to give that a go,’ Cecily agreed. She wrote
at length about how many women during the war had worked in munitions, coal,
gas and power supplies, factories, transport and various offices.
Life on the front line is both rewarding and terrifying, and Cecily soon finds herself more involved—and more in danger—than she ever thought possible. And her family has followed her to France. Her sister, Merryn, has fallen for a young drummer whose charm hides a dark side, while their mother, Queenie—a faded star of the stage tormented by her own secret heartache—seems set on a path of self-destruction.
As the war draws to a close and their hopes turn once again to the future, Cecily and Merryn are more determined than ever to unravel the truth about their mother’s past: what has she been hiding from them—and why?
Website: www.freda@fredalightfoot.co.uk
Twitter: @fredalightfoot
If you wish to be kept up to date on new titles and
contests, sign up on my website http://www.fredalightfoot.co.uk to subscribe to my Newsletter: I only send out 4 or 5 a year so your inbox won’t be
flooded.
Make sure to follow the whole tour—the more
posts you visit throughout, the more chances you’ll get to enter the giveaway.
The tour dates are here: http://writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/freda-lightfoot-3/
No comments:
Post a Comment