Worth a look: suffragettes

There is a very good article on a little-known suffragette prisoner and her diary, in the most recent Women’s History Review.

In ‘Bless the gods for my pencils and paper: Katie Gliddon’s prison diary’, WHR 22 (2013) 148-67, Anne Schwan discusses the diary writings made by Katie Gliddon in a copy of Shelley’s poetry, during her time in Holloway.

Gliddon herself seems an interesting figure – a convicted militant, but embarrassed by her failure to join the hunger strike which became such a feature of the suffragette prison narrative; with mixed views about class and her fellow inmates. She would make an excellent equivocal lead character in a drama.

The article is very thoughtful in its analysis of the writings and what they reveal about ideas of gender, class, beauty, amongst other things. It is well worth a look.