A book titled The Women Writers' Revolution should hit a lot of sweet spots for me. History, women writers of the early 1900s, and social change, are all topics I'm very interested in. Unfortunately, this book failed to succeed on any of these levels.

To begin with, this book doesn't actually focus on women writers. While I understand the need to include male writers and critics, an informal survey of two random chapters shows men's lives and works being discussed as much or more than women's. Worse, when the works of women are looked at directly, they are evaluated in terms of men. It's as if the only way to view them is through the lens of males; they aren't allowed to stand on their own and be evaluated for their own merit. And, while I'm sympathetic to the difficulty of finding pertinent source material, for a book about women writers there weren't enough examples or quotes from women. There are almost no details about what types of books the women mentioned wrote, how they were received by the public, how successful they were – or any other information I expected.

A book of history, or really any book in my opinion, needs a structure. The reader of nonfiction especially needs to understand how and why the material is organized, and to be able to follow the author's arguments. This book lacks any discernible form. It veers off topic, at one point discussing how the author starts to write a book. Arguments are introduced but not followed up one, and statements are frequently made about motivations and feelings of the women mentioned that aren't backed up with any facts.

The title mentions "revolution", and certainly there were many changes in society and women's lives in the first half of the 1900s, but this book barely mentions them. There was no sense of great shifts in society or how those might have affected the lives of women who were writing at the time. And, since the contrast with the Bloomsbury Group is mentioned in the title, I was surprised to find the Group wasn't explained anywhere, their membership and aims were only alluded to. If you posit a revolution it would be good to give the basis of where the new changes are coming from. And then actually discuss those changes somewhere.

Finally, I found the strongest chapter to be The Poets, at least until the author attributed Elizbeth Barret Browning's poem "How Do I Love Thee?" to Christina Rosetti. Readers need to be able to trust that the material has been handled carefully and reviewed for accuracy. I don't expect perfection of course, but obvious errors like this make it difficult to trust the author on the more obscure details. Taken all together, unfortunately, I can't recommend this book to anyone.

Thank you to Pen and Sword and NetGalley for providing a copy for me to review.

What a wonderful book. There’s enough reference and source material alone to keep many readers with titles that will take a lifetime to read! I’ve been an avid reader for some seventy years and I found the content inspirational. So many books I read years ago that I’ll revisit with a freapsh and different view. Authors I’ve not read, but will look out as my interest in their work has been piqued by this book. I’ve never heard of Margaret Gilman, but her book, The Yellow Wallpaper, sounds extraordinary; a cry to be heard from a woman confined.

There’s a real social narrative to this book. Stephen Wade considers authors in the context of the time and prevailing attitudes. Male dominated inter war years were the start of a new freedom for female writers. Despite Larkin’s doubts about ‘the invasion’ of women into men’s colleges, women truly found their artistic voice. Wade considers different styles of writing, literary magazines, clubs and much more.

It’s easy to read, packed with information and there’s a comprehensive index, bibliography and the source material is clearly identified. I loved the end section which contains some portraits and extracts from ephemera. They alone were fascinating. If you enjoy books or social history you’ll love this title. Fresh and invigorating.

A decidedly idiosyncratic attempt to construct a social history of interwar women writers. Stephen Wade has clearly carried out extensive research, and is obviously passionate about books and reading. But this needs extensive editing: the style’s awkward, the structure confused – and frequently confusing. There’s a wealth of potentially fascinating material here but it’s buried in a morass of detail. Moreover, there are numerous curious juxtapositions, abrupt shifts in topic, jumps between time periods, all of which made it difficult to trace an underlying argument. It didn’t help that much of this seems to cover anything but the interwar period. This just didn’t work for me.

When I read about The Women Writers’ Revolution: More Than Bloomsbury, The Success of Female Authors during the Interwar Years by Stephen Ward, I really looked forward to reading it. Both as a historian and as a lover of detective fiction, my focus is the inter-war period. Unfortunately, my response to it is mixed.

On one hand, there are howling errors that are symptomatic of careless writing. Examples include giving George Meredith’s dates as 1828-1909 and then, in the next sentence, saying he died in 1903; stating that Diana Cooper (b. 1940) was in correspondence with that same George Meredith (d. 1903). I think the author has confused Lady Diana Cooper (Viscountess Norwich, 1892-1986) with a Diana Cooper who sees angels. The author also seems confused about George Grossmith (unsurprisingly, since there were three generations of them) – giving the dates for GG II but stating that he was an established Times crime reporter, which was GG I. And this by an author who published a book on GG II! The author is insistent upon giving the dates of every person mentioned, which draws attention to the biggest howler: he takes Marie Belloc Lownes’ diary entry of 1915 and tells us that she was in her club with Lady Stanley (d. 1895) and Marie de Rothschild (b. 1927).

Ward tells us that Marie’s club was “unique and very modern – it was meant for women working in advertising” but I don’t think that’s quite accurate. Although the Thirty Club has always admitted women, it was not founded as a women-only club. What it did do (about 17 years after it was founded) was encourage the formation of the Women’s Advertising Club of London.

We are initially told that Marie’s novel The Lodger had been adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock just before WWI. That’s impressive, as Hitchcock would have been 14 at the time. Later in the book, the author states correctly that Hitch produced the film in 1927. That seems to offer convincing evidence that the mistakes are due to carelessness, rather than ignorance.

The stated thesis of the author: that female authors of the interwar period were attentive to networking and embraced the business of writing and publishing is an enthralling one. I felt, though, that were several false starts to explaining it. I would draw Ward’s attention to his quotation from J.W. Robertson Scott: “[…] easy writing that makes such hard reading”. Ward says he will use Marie and her usage of the new women’s professional clubs as a case study. Splendid! (Although there had been women’s clubs since the 1870s, but let’s not quibble about “professional”.) Yet we then get several pages about the currently unfashionable male author, George Meredith, before we have one diary entry from Marie, followed by several more pages about men’s clubs. The book meanders and the old guidance seems relevant: statement; evidence; conclusion.

There are infelicities such as “[…] just as the First World War was ending, the flu raged and people died in their thousands. But it had some compensations, and one of these was specifically for women: the Sex Discrimination (Removal) Act 1919”. I’m sure the author didn’t mean that that Act was compensation for killing thousands of people, but that’s how it reads. He states that the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’ led to prisons force-feeding women but it was the other way round: the Act was an excuse for prisons NOT to force-feed prisoners.

There are unsupported statements such as the impact of Pitman’s shorthand on women’s working lives. I want to ask, “What was the impact it had upon women that it didn’t have upon me?”

There is some really, really, good material in this book and I do want to see the book it should have been, but I think this version would benefit from a rigorous editor’s blue pencil and from footnotes. The author offers many interesting anecdotes but doesn’t cite the source, such as the “obscure piece of fiction” that stated “There’s only one chance in a thousand that you’ll be a really successful woman.” Who said that? There is an appendix with good potted biographies of everyone mentioned; an excellent comprehensive bibliography; and a list of relevant Acts of Parliament. The book is almost an important scholarly work, but the lack of citations sadly debars it.

Despite my severe criticisms – and if you have the resilience to ignore the careless mistakes – this is an important book that has good points to make about the business of being an author between the wars, although I’m not sure how much is specific to being a female author, despite Ward’s articulation of what he wants to achieve. I want to suggest that we wait for the second edition, but I suspect that’s a unrealistic luxury nowadays. Grab it while you can and fillet it for the sound bits.

#TheWomenWritersRevolutionMorethanBloomsbury #NetGalley

I really loved reading this and seeing the women writers before me and how their stories have inspired me to be a writer. Being a woman writer is powerful and reading these stories is something I greatly loved and can't wait to explore more of the works from the authors I knew but most importantly the authors I haven't read from the ones spoken about in this book

Before I submitted my review, I had to go back and recheck the page count, because the copy I read was under 300 pages (268 to be precise) and I felt like having read a large encyclopaedia.
First of all, thank you to the author, and everyone involved in the publication of this book as well as those who studied women writers before and provided some of the source materials of this book.
This is a strong and thorough non-fiction book about women writers’ and their writing in the aftermath of WWI until 1950s.
While I said encyclopaedia above, that was to refer to the compact robustness of this book. I was glad to see analyses and opinion by the author.
A great addition to the literature, a beginning and continuation, and an inspiring read.
If I must add some constructive criticism, in a few cases, the paragraph switches can be made to flow better. Minor editing out of personal preferences.
Also, I am not a fan of the cover page.

So interesting! This book covers an interesting period of transition for women seeking to be published as writers. It is a social history as well as a strong analytical piece. It is also entertaining, so ideal for people who like their history with a sense of story telling.

Stephen Wade, The Women Writers’ Revolution: More than Bloomsbury The Success of Female Authors during the Interwar Years, Pen & Sword | Pen & Sword History, January 2025.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Although a heavier read than many Pen & Sword publications this one carried me along because of the detailed and exciting material. This is a wonderful book, revealing so much about women writers in the interwar years, well known and lesser-known women, and even those who seemed to have disappeared. There is so much context, and there are also detailed references to male writers, as well as the Bloomsbury writers. However, the real legends of the book, the women writers about some of whom we know little, those who performed the revolution of Wade’s title, are there in full force. This is an exciting read, and one I relished from beginning to end.

Networking and the role of women’s clubs (one providing access to less wealthy women through lower fees) and providing commentary to newspapers, and women seeking reviews of their writing, is an intriguing topic. Networking, it becomes clear, is not an innovation at all! Magazines edited by women provided another source of access for women writers, and these are given a place in the narrative. Following the first chapter is one that resonates with domestic stories becoming professional success – or a series of rejections. ‘Becoming a Woman Writer’ includes such stories, the rise of Mills and Boon publishing, what publishers wanted – and what they received, readership and the types of publishing companies that encouraged women writers, how women learnt to write and have their manuscripts accepted.

The scene is set with a discussion of Edith Nesbit, Beatrix Potter and the amazing Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s works, establishing them in the period and amongst the work of male authors. The titles of the following chapters, ‘Discover Yourself’, ‘The Other Englands’, and ‘The Poets’ provide a flavour of further themes. ‘Influential Americans: Wharton to Parker’ is a whole chapter. Other topics are given an appendix – ‘Other Women Writers of the Period’; ‘The Bloomsbury Group’; and ‘Women Writers and Changes to the Law’. There is a fine bibliography and an index. Delightful graphics, including newspaper reports and letters, book and magazine covers and photographs accompany the text. The cover of ‘Come Out of the Kitchen!’ A Romance by Alice Duer Miller, featuring an emerging woman, and a full escapee, a black cat, is one of the graphics that stands out.

What a marvellous read – informative, lively, analytical in parts, introducing new writers and dealing well with the more well known – this is a real accomplishment. The Women Writers’ Revolution: More than Bloomsbury The Success of Female Authors during the Interwar Years is yet another book to which I shall eagerly return. I loved it.