For women historians...
30/12/2007
All women who love their history will really enjoy a new little book called "Sussex Women". It tells the stories of 30 Sussex women united by the fact that they were either born in Sussex or were drawn to the county for one reason or another. And they all made a considerable impact on their community or society at large which, in some cases, continues to this day.
Written by historian Ann Kramer, the women include artists, activists, writers, doctors, dippers, racing car drivers, mistresses, music-hall artists - and even murderers. All them display the characteristics of plain speaking, obstinacy and rebelliousness, from the 14th century Lady Joan Pelham - who wrote a courteous letter to her absent husband while repelling an attack on Pevensey Castle - through to the 20th century novelist Angela Carter. Every woman here was either a rebel or an extremely strong-minded woman determined to put her own ideas into practice. In most cases, they were both.
Famous names include: Vanessa Bell, Lady Annie Brassey, Christiana Edmunds (The Brighton Poisoner), Maria Anne Fitzherbert (the secret wife of the Prince Regent, later George IV) Dorothy (Dot) Levitt (set the women’s world speed record), Mary Wheatland ('Bognor’s mermaid’ who saved at least 30 souls from drowning), and Virginia Woolf.
Sussex Women by Ann Kramer is published by Snake River Press, price £8.99. Available from all good bookshops or visit: the website linked below.