Author(s): Cooke, Rachel,
Binding: Paperback,
Date of Publication: 01/05/2014,
Pagination: 384 pages, Section: 8, b/w photos,
Series: N/A,
Imprint: Virago Press Ltd,
Published By: Little, Brown Book Group,
Book Classification: 20th century history from c 1945 to c 2000, Social & cultural history, Gender studies: women, Biography: general
ISBN13\EAN\SKU: 9781844087419

Description
In her apron and rubber gloves, a smile lipsticked permanently across her face, the woman of the Fifties has become a cultural symbol of all that we are most grateful to have sloughed off. A homely compliant creature, she knows little or nothing of sex, and stands no chance at all of having a career. She must marry or die.

But what if there was another side to the story?

In this book Rachel Cooke tells the story of ten extraordinary women whose pioneering professional lives - and complicated private lives - paved the way for future generations. Muriel Box, film director. Betty Box, film producer.

Margery Fish, plantswoman. Patience Gray, cook. Alison Smithson, architect.

Sheila van Damm, rally car driver and theatre owner. Nancy Spain, journalist and radio personality. Joan Werner Laurie, editor.

Jacquetta Hawkes, archaeologist. Rose Heilbron, QC. Plucky and ambitious, they left the house, discovered the bliss of work, and ushered in the era of the working woman.