Evelyn Sharp: Rebel Woman 1869 - 1955 by Angela V. Johns
Evelyn Sharp
Rebel Woman,
1869-1955 Angela V.John
"This is a fascinating account of a forgotten feminist. Evelyn Sharp
was an 1890s ‘new woman' who became a militant suffragette before 1914 and
became renowned both as a journalist and children's writer. Angela V. John's
lucid and scholarly biography brings her back into view, illuminating the
social and political history of her era while skilfully weaving into the story
Sharp's long, secret love affair with the Guardian journalist she eventually
married - Henry Nevinson. "
Professor Shelia Rowbotham
This is the first biography of a remarkable writer and incorrigible rebel.
Evelyn Sharp's story encapsulates the shifts in opportunities for talented
Victorian women who survived into the mid-twentieth century.
She was born into a privileged family in 1869 and became a very popular writer
of schoolgirl fiction. Extremely versatile, she also produced fairy tales
alongside stories for the infamous ‘Yellow Book'. A Manchester Guardian
journalist for over four decades, Evelyn Sharp became the first regular
contributor to its iconic Women's Page. Before and during the First World War
she was a leading suffragette, editing the newspaper, ‘Votes for Women'.
Imprisoned twice, she was the last British Woman to refuse to pay taxes because
she lacked the vote. Increasingly committed to pacifism and international
humanitarianism, the 1920s saw her working with Quakers in Weimar
Germany.
After a long and volatile relationship with the radical war correspondent,
Henry V. Nevinson, the couple married when she was sixty-three.
This biography draws on Evelyn Sharp's publications, as well as letter and
diaries vividly describing experiences such as famine relief in Soviet Russia
and daily life in wartime Kensington for an elderly woman. It will be of
particular interest to historians and those interested in children's and
women's literature as well as to anybody who enjoys biography and social
history.
To read a sample chapter from the book, click
here.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Evelyn Sharp's Life
Introducing the Rebel Woman
1 From Evie to Becky Sharp
2 Writing for the young
3 Fellow traveller: meeting Henry Nevinson
4 Words in Deed: women's suffrage
5 Working with war
6 The relief of peace: in Weimar Germany
7 Irish Rebels
8 Somewhere in Russia: fiction and famine
9 Still rebelling: women, writing and politics in the 1920s
10 The Child Grows Up: configuring childhood in the inter-war years
11 Defying time and the times
12 War and widowhood: Chipping Campden and Kensington
Appendix 1 Evelyn Sharp's major publications
Appendix 2 The Cheap Holiday. A short story by Evelyn Sharp.
Angela V. John is Honorary Professor of History at Aberystwyth University
