Singled Out

Can I mention again how much I am enjoying reading Virginia Nicholson's Singled Out?  First The Far Traveler and now a book on the "surplus women" in England after the First World War.  I think this is going to be a good year for me and nonfiction books if these titles are any indication of what's in store.  It sounds like an odd topic--a book on single women or spinsters, but it is utterly fascinating.  The book is anecdotal and Nicholson is excellent at tying the information together in a readable manner.  I read a criticism by one reader that they felt the book was good, but "choppy".  I actually like the format.  It's easy to pick the book up and read a bit without feeling  when you stop that later you'll need to backtrack to pick up the thread again.

The first chapter discusses the actual war and the women who lost their fiances and boyfriends.  It was heartbreaking reading some of the stories.  One of the very first women Nicholson writes about was a reader, and you know what books do to girl's brains:

"May was a worry to her parents because she had an over-active imagination.  She learnt to read early and loved fairy stories.  The little people were real to her.  There was a fairy prince who married a fairy princess and lived happily ever after; they lived in flowers.  Sometimes one heard their tiny tinkling laughter, but one never saw them.  The assiduous doctor wagged his head and told her parents that too much reading would damage her brain.  She must be kept back, he said.  On his advice she was denied books and only allowed to read at school, though she sneaked her father's carpentry manuals to bed with her at night and read whatever she could lay hands on.  When she got older she managed to get hold of copies of Jane Eyre, Lorna Doone and Kim.  But her favourite was Marie Corelli, whose melodramatic romances imbued her with a sense that some day, somewhere, she would unite with her twin soul."

Can you believe that?  Denied books?  May's fiance was a Quaker who registered as a pacifist.  He was sent to jail, but there he studied first aid and learned how to care for the wounded.  He volunteered for a non-combatant role in the war and was quite fearless in his work.  He was a stretcher bearer and sadly was killed in action. 

Nicholson goes on to talk about the stigma attached to a single woman at the time.  Spinsters were not looked upon fondly in general by either men or women.  Once the war was over there were many questions of what to do with these women.  During the war they filled necessary and important roles, but with men returning home, they were not accepted anymore in the work environment.

"Life for the single woman was full of (such) grey areas. Should she entertain, travel alone, be seen in public?  What would she wear?  If she was not a housewife, could she be a house-spinster?  And if she could not find a man to support her, how could she support herself?  Job possibilities were very limited, and after the war unemployment was high; between 1914 and 1918 the female workforce increased by nearly a million, most of the uneducated ones going to munitions factories or domestic service, while higher up the social ladder they became nurses or teachers.  Friendships, whether with men or women, were cast into doubt by post-Freudian  society's heightened awareness of sex ('...Do they?...Don't they?'), while sexual appetites themselves, ravenous and urgent as they might be, were virtually taboo in polite society.  ...Surplus Women had many problems, not just of grief and loss, but of closed minds, of male (and female) hostility, of archaic expectations and the law stacked against her.  A single woman's life in the 1920s and 30s often felt like a gritty struggle against prejudice, poverty, and exclusion."

I think I will definitely have to buy this book once it comes out in paperback.  Aside from the interesting historical information it is also full of literary references as well. Nicholson does a wonderful job of talking about female authors whose work reflected the the difficulties single women encountered.  Many of the authors I've heard of and now will make a point of searching out and reading.  In the first 50 pages alone, my list:

• E.M. Delafield, Thank Heaven Fasting
• Angela du Maurier, It's Only the Sister
• Vera Brittain, The Dark Tide
• Margery Perham, Josie Vine
• Irene Rathbone, We That Were Young
• Ruth Holland, The Lost Generation
• Elizabeth Bowen, A World of Love
• Winifred Holtby, Crowded Street and South Riding
• Ivy Compton-Burnett
• Sylvia Townsend Warner, Lolly Willowes
• F.M. Mayor, The Rector's Daughter

I hope you won't mind if I share more later.  It's really amazing to think what single women have gone through in the past.  Happily there isn't quite the stigma attached these days to not having, or not necessarily wanting a husband.

Comments

[LK]

I have this book on my wish-list...definitely keeping my eyes and pocketbook peeled for a copy.

Love the list, share more. Best, LK

[Kitty]

This sounds fascinating! I must seek out a copy of this book ASAP.

[Nicola]

I hope you keep posting about this book, I'd love to here more. I read a review of this when it first came out and put it on my tbr list but then promptly forgot all about it. Thanks for the reminder!

[Sylvia]

I take a sort of perverse pleasure in the fact that my single lifestyle would be incomprehensible to just about every previous generation anywhere on earth. A single woman, determining her own life, just doesn't compute in most societies. I'm glad I don't have to constantly justify myself like previous single women did.

[Danielle]

LK--This is definitely worth having. I hope it gets published over here as well. I'm saving my pennies as well, but will enjoy the library copy until then.
Kitty--I heard about it from someone in one of my reading groups and am so glad they mentioned it. It's very compelling reading.
Nicola--I am sure I'll post more. I'm not really even that far into the book and I've marked all sorts of passages and have been writing down titles and authors she refers to.
Sylvia--I can't imagine putting up with what they had to. I never really gave much thought about all the spinster aunts in novels, but now I'll be noticing them I'm sure. I must have known somewhere in the back of my mind, but there was an amazing amount of prejudice and ignorance towards single women (not single men, hm?). I think the war really gave many women the independence they wanted. Many of them took advantage of the situation to become educated and run their own businesses, work. Thankfully there is not the same stigmatism attached to single women now.

[Kate S.]

This book sounds fascinating. I've put a copy on hold at the library. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it from you here while I wait my turn!

[Eva]

This sounds so interesting! In Russia today, there are something like ten million more women than men, and I saw some of its effects (namely, the men get to be tools).

[Equiano]

I've never heard of this book - thank you so much, because it sounds right up my street! Definitely let us know more of your thoughts on it - and the accompanying reading list is great too.

[Kay]

This book does sound quite interesting. There is a single woman character in the Anne Perry WWI mystery that I just finished. Her unmarried status was discussed in the book and I believe that she will be an ambulance driver in the next books. Keep us informed as you progress through the book.

[litlove]

I'd love to hear more as I liked the look of it in the first place and now I am definitely going to buy it when it comes out in paperback. That's a very interesting list of further reading you have there, too.

[Victoria]

I've been waiting for this to come through from the library for a while now. I've had it on hold for months so there must be quite a queue! :-) It sounds worth waiting for though and in the meantime I have a copy of Virginia Nicholson's 'Amongst the Bohemians: Experiments in Living, 1900-1939', which sounds fascinating.

[Dorothy W.]

This book sounds great -- what an interesting perspective on history -- and it's wonderful that it's generating a new reading list. Books that lead to more books are so much fun!

[Carl V.]

"too much reading would damage her brain"

Boy, if that were anywhere near true we would all be stark raving mad mental patients, wouldn't we? ;)

[Myrthe]

Yours is the second or third very positive review I've read of this book. I've now definitively put it on my wishlist.

I read excerpts of Vera Brittain's diaries about her fiance going off to war and dying there.

[Myrthe]

Aargh! Hit Post too fast!

I read the excerpts last year in a Norton's anthology of women's writing. I think I even added Brittain's diaries to my wishlist because I liked her writing. The anthology resulted in a whole list of authors to add.

[Lisa]

This book sounds absolutely fascinating. I love women's history. It makes sense, but I have never really thought about the problem caused by the lack of young men following the war. Thankfully, these taboos no longer exist for single women.

[chihiro]

Danielle, this book isn't my cup of tea, but if you're interested in such subjects and are curious about England then there is a wonderful British publishing house, Persephone Books: http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/
I'm sure you will find plenty of fascinating books that are only published by them and no one else.

[Isabel]

Some people who are recent immigrants are surprised that such a nice lady as I am is still not married (again, I mean).

It must have been worse in those days to be single.

I am glad that I live in these times.

[Andi]

Wow, this does sound amazing! Thanks for yet another great recommendation.

[Danielle]

Kate--I do plan on sharing more. It's all so interesting to me I keep turning down pages so I can find them later.
Eva--I had no idea. Why is there such a large number of women now in comparison to men? It wouldn't surprise me if women were more independent now and didn't want to marry.
Equiano--This has been a real find for me. It's definite the sort of book I want to take notes, and that doesn't happen very often (well, I often want to, but rarely actually do!).
Kay--I think I have the first WWI mystery that she wrote. I was thinking there would only be three--but is Perry planning on writing more or is it a different series. I really need to get to it. The story line sounds very typical of the times.
Litlove--I'll be watching for it in paper as well. I love it when a book leads me to other books like this is doing. Many of the authors I have heard of, but now I'll have to look for their works.
Victoria--Yes, it is definitely worth the wait. I think you will like it as well! I knew that she had written another book about the Bohemians. I think it is available over here and will be looking for it as well now. I like her writing style.

[Danielle]

Dorothy--I've never really been all that interested in WWI (I'm embarrassed to say), but this is really an interesting aspect of the period. I may even have to look up some NF books on the war. I like it too, when a book leads to other books!
Carl--Can you believe people actually thought that way? We'd all be in loony bins!
Myrthe--I have Vera Brittain's Testament to Youth as well as a bio of her, but now I am very intrigued and will have to read more about and by her. She lost not only her fiance but also her brother and many friends, but you likely already read that. She is quoted a bit so far in the book. Definitely put it on your wish list. Are you at all familiar with Katherine Mansfield? She also lost a brother and was quite devastated by it. I'll be curious to see if she is mentioned in the book, though she did marry.
Lisa--I hadn't thought of it either. I wonder what it was like here in the US. I think more British men died than Americans, so perhaps it was not so extreme here. I also am very interested in women's history.
Chihiro--Many thanks for the link! I actually discvered them a while back and have accumulated a small pile of their lovely books. I only wish the shipping was not so extreme or I would buy a couple every month! I've had to curtail my UK book buying lately, however.
Isabel--No matter how much I love reading historical fiction, I, too, and very happy to live now and not then. I think there are many cultural differences and probably being single or (like me) childless (but married) is sort of weird from some people from other countries.
Andi--There is definitely lots to think about in the book. I'll be sorry to return it to the library!

[iliana]

This book sounds wonderful. I hadn't heard about it. I'm going to add it and the names you listed on my authors to watch for list. And, yes, please share more with us!

[Somer]

I think you would really enjoy Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell, the recent LibraryThing Early Review selection. The story is centered around an unmarried woman just after WWI. Would you like my copy? I know you are an Early Reviewer, too.

[Danielle]

Iliana--I love a book like this that leads to other books. She does a wonderful job of talking about the literature of the time and relating it to everything else that was going on at the time!
Somer--Thanks again for offering! I'm looking forward to reading the book!