Book Launch Review: Women in Victorian Society, by Anne Louise Booth

Available from Amazon UK 

and for pre-order Amazon US

Anne Louise Booth shines a light on the many paradoxes in the lives of Victorian women.  For most the pace of real change came so slowly they didn't live to see the benefits, yet others are remembered to this day for their pioneering spirit.

One of the greatest paradoxes was Queen Victoria, who presided of this pivotal period of change, re-defining the role of women in society, yet at the same time having one child after another. There is an intriguing postscript which asks what if Albert had lived? Although we can never know, it is an interesting way to look at his influence.

Well researched, with an impressive  range of sources and  case studies, this book helps us understand the complex reasons and context for the emergence of the suffrage movement by exploring the expectations and limitations of what was possible within the confines of Victorian society.

Women in Victorian Society is a  thought provoking book which I am happy to recommend.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Anne Louise Booth teaches at the University of Sheffield and is a visiting academic at the University of Gloucestershire. Her main research interests are the political and social history of nineteenth century women; their behaviour both formally and by subterfuge. She talks to groups, writes on local history for magazines, is active in historical societies and has researched her family history back to the 1500s.