A Short History of Women; A Novel

A SHORT HISTORY OF WOMEN begins with the story of Dorothy Townsend, a British suffragette who dies in a hunger strike, and then follows the lives of Dorothys descendants as they become involved in the ever-shifting nature of the feminist revolution: Dorothys daughter Evelyn becomes an pioneering woman scientist, and her granddaughters struggle with the demands of the 21st century. Though National Book Award-nominee Kate Walberts themes are evident--the evolution of womens roles and identities over the last hundred years--her novel never slips into didacticism, and her narrative and characters are vivid and engrossing.