Old Baggage

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some of the bolder girls would whisper, as Mattie sounded off about Mussolini, or dogs with docked tails, or vegetarians. I enjoyed reading about the indomitable Mattie and it did make you think about what the suffragettes (and indeed, suffragists) did once the vote had been won. Old Baggage is a prequel to her previous novel, the Second World War-set Crooked Heart, which opened with a prologue featuring a character named Mattie Simpkin, a one-time militant suffragette and independent “new woman” now in the grip of dementia. I started reading this book, which has been on my shelves for a while, and I set it aside for other books.

She found herself lunging upward, one hand on his shoulder, to aim a peck at the great red face with its dented nose… ‘What’s that for?

I thought the scene at the end when she realises that Inez's father is a good father was very telling. Noel, a 10 year old boy's journey begins at Hampstead as an orphan hence living with his cousin god-mother, Mattie, who was a suffragette. Mattie’s fire of indignation is ignited and she agrees to a competition between the two groups, believing firmly that her girls will run rings around the Empire Youth League. When she finds herself under the watch of the police again after a street robbery, she soon finds a new way of feeling involved in the world and inspiring a new generation of young girls to be educated and feel inspired to think more of themselves as she starts a Girls Club on Hampstead Heath, teaching them a variety of skills. He is taken in by Vera, a woman struggling to keep her head above water financially who sees him as an extra source of income.

Women may have won the vote, but there is no doubt that they are still suffering from a lack of equality. I enjoyed all the historical aspects of it and how I was taken back to the cells of Holloway and reminded that it was another ten years before all women had the vote.Meanwhile The Flea keeps on quietly supporting Mattie with a tactful smoothing over here, fresh lemonade there, all the things she does in the background that keep life pleasant. I haven’t read Old Baggage, but I did thoroughly enjoy Their Finest (set in WW2) when I read it a couple of years ago. The historical setting seemed realistic although there author did not seem to spend much time on trying to build an historical atmosphere. Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian'A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel' Sunday Times_______________________________What do you do next, after you've changed the world? There’s one that’s used in the book, and is extremely appropriate to the story, even if there seems to be some debate on who originated it.