Fight for the Vote: a tale about suffragettes

Karen Wallace (author)

Martin Remphry (illus)

Franklin Watts, UK: 1998; 63pp

ISBN: 0749634529

Genre: historical fiction

Issues: change, equality, identity

Set in a time when social class and traditional gender roles are being questioned, this short novel explores the nature of the women who fought for the right to vote.

Kitty lives in a financially comfortable household but is very aware that her mother's somewhat egalitarian attitude towards servants and fairly open-minded approach to politics is not shared by the mother of her best friend. So when Kitty's birthday treat - a trip to the seaside - is interrupted by a suffragette's demonstration, and a very familiar face is visible in the crowd of protesters, Kitty begins to ask herself some knotty questions about women's rights.

Particularly interesting because it recognises that many women opposed their sisters who were trying to bring about social and political change, this story briefly examines the motivations, determination and frustrations of those trying to change long-established and well-accepted ways of living.