A History of Women's Lives in Hove and Portslade

Book excerpt: This book looks at the lives of the women from Hove and Portslade, ranging from artists, musicians, writers, performers, reformers, pioneering doctors and business-women to those employed in factories, shops, laundries and as domestic servants, not forgetting, of course, women's contribution to war-work in both of the world wars. There are facts about their ordinary lives, birth, marriage and death; their education; their leisure activities from guns to cycling, the gym, swimming and horse riding.It is also appropriate to reflect on the Votes for Women movement, when brave souls battled against prejudice to achieve the franchise. Not all women felt the same, of course, and although there was apathy at first, Brighton and Hove was home to an early group of suffragists who were passionate in their beliefs but disliked the violence embraced by the suffragettes.If you ever thought women deserved more than being a mere footnote in history, then this is the book for you.