Format: ebook
Published: January 27th, 2022
Age: Adult
Genre: Nonfiction – Politics
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Nan Sloane has done an excellent job in detailing, as much as possible, the lives of women who had an impact of politics, before women were even able to have a proper voice within politics. She explores the lives of women – notably working-class women – who have historically been overlooked in the roles they’ve played, and the ways they used what they had at their disposal to avoid being ignored.
Sloane has deliberately set out to find women who are different to the usually upper class voices we hear about when it comes to feminism. But she also explores those women who may not be counted among feminist heroes, but who fought their own battles in their own ways, some through supporting their husbands or simply being in the wrong places at the wrong times, who may have never given consideration to the idea of women getting the vote, but who had an impact outside the sphere of feminism.
I really like Sloane’s approach here, and it truly feels like no stone was unturned in searching for these women. Sloane has deliberately unearthed the overlooked, and through Uncontrollable Women she brings them vividly to life, bringing in as much information as possible to create full pictures of these women. She weaves them in where possible, and shows the extraordinary lives of these women without it becoming dry in tone.
This is really worthwhile book and raises some interesting questions about who we admire and focus on in history, and spotlights how leaving particular people outside of the historical account leaves you with only half a picture, not just of these women but of the people around them, too, revealing the full complexities within history itself.
Reading Challenge
Be curious – Non-Fiction Challenge 2025
Prompt: Politics – Politics is everywhere. In Government, in Sports, in Corporations. How does it effect us personally?
Progress: 2/12
Unwrapping Words 