Full disclosure: I know I a lot about the suffragettes. I’m writing my MA dissertation on them, and I find the campaign for the parliamentary vote for women absolutely fascinating. However, I also find that much of the media surrounding them tends to oversimplify the myriad of organisations, people, and viewpoints.

Things a Bright Girl Can Do didn’t do that. It exposed the complexities of the suffrage campaign–the tensions that existed between the Women’s Social and Political Union, and other, more constitutionalist suffrage groups. It looked unflinchingly at the hot issues of the day–like militancy and the tug between conscientious objection & fighting for your country.

Our story focuses on three young women; Evelyn, who is middle class & desperate to go to Oxford University, May, who lives a bohemian lifestyle and is a committed pacifist suffragist, and Nell, who’s family struggles to meet ends meet. All three characters are compelling, and I like how each story interweaved, however briefly.

My favourite character was Nell, a working class girl who prefers dressing in masculine clothes and shares a cramped house with her family of eight, AND another family. Nell is bright and frustrated with her lot in life. Her devotion and commitment to her family is lovely. And I adored her exploration of her sexuality and her relationship with May. But what I loved most about Nell’s ARC through the book was her gradual articulation of what she wanted from the vote–a career. Nell’s confidence, in herself, in her identity and in her abilities grew throughout the story. I LOVED seeing a working class suffragette so vividly portrayed. I feel sometimes there is an overemphasis on middle class suffragettes, so it was lovely to see someone like Nell represented.

May, Nell’s girlfriend, was a little more difficult to fall for. May has been brought up in a very accepting household, her mother is a suffragist and very involved in the Quaker movement. I really enjoyed reading about May’s commitment to her faith–I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a Quaker MC, so that was lovely. May’s adherence to pacifism and non-violence provides a interesting insight into this area of suffrage campaigning. Especially in popular history, much of the films and books seem to focus on the militants. It was really nice to see a suffragist that wasn’t a militant (and her fav Pankhurst is Sylvia so I was 100% for that!) However, as the book goes on and war draws closer, May’s beliefs seem to get more complicated. On one hand, I admired May for sticking to what she believed in, and on the other–it frustrated me SO much that she couldn’t empathise with other people’s opinions. I also LOVED how confident May was with her sexuality, and the relationship with Nell was beautiful.

Evelyn’s story, who’s joining the suffragettes was a rebellion against her parents so she could access education, was equally fascinating. I really enjoyed her discourse on what happens AFTER we get the vote? It was interesting to see these characters grappling with the implications of what the parliamentary vote actually meant for their future. For Evelyn, she wanted an education, and more from her life than being a wife and mother. One of Evelyn’s scenes from the book was probably one of the most harrowing and powerful pieces of writing I’ve ever read.

Basically, Things a Bright Girl Can Do is a complex & nuanced YA book with heart. A lot of the time, the suffragettes are cast as heroes or villains, which does these complicated women a disservice. The women who fought for our right to vote over a hundred years ago were not badly drawn caricatures–they were people. Sally Nicholls has exceeded at creating a rich and compelling narrative, exploring a well-researched area of history, and writing three heroines that feel vividly real.

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Excellent book for introduction the history of feminist and suffrage to young people with characters you can root for. There is so much you can pull out and adapt in the classroom and it is beautifully written. I would recommend this to my students who are around 12-15 as it works for the younger end of YA perfectly. I hope this will be a big hit because it deserves it.

Not at all well written and was nothing like I was hoping or expecting., Very disappointing,

I've never really been a fan of historical fiction before so I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this story but I was engrossed from the very start. It was absolutely fascinating reading the two storylines from such an important time in history, especially the changes in women's lives. I think we take the advances in women's rights for granted far too much and the battle that one character had to have just to be allowed to go to university really hit home and made me think. Beautifully, sensitively written, I would recommend this to any modern teen or grown woman, I'm sure they would love it and also learn stuff too!

I wasn't sure how to begin this review as even though I really enjoyed this book, I did struggle with it a bit; whether that was because of the difficult subject matter or because I generally struggle with historical fiction I'm not sure. Even though it is fiction, I actually came out with a better understanding of the emancipation of women in 1900s Britain and I loved every second of it. 

So much goes on in this book; as well as following three characters on their journey for the emancipation of women, we get to see the impact of WW1 on the different social classes and respective neighbourhoods that the girls live in. The book spans the period of five years - four of those being during the course of the war - and it is so immersive throughout that you actually feel as though you are there with each of the heroines. I especially enjoyed reading the earlier part of the book where we see Evelyn campaigning with the Suffragettes as this was where my eyes were opened the most; I knew the bare bones of the campaigns from high school history but reading the techniques that were deployed in prison was harrowing to say the least. 

I was a bit worried going into this that I would have a difficult time keeping track of the three heroines separate storylines (especially as as far as I could tell, neither Nell or May actually met Evelyn) but I was pleasantly surprised. If I am being honest, I would have liked another POV to have been added. We see in Nell’s POV that the East End was culturally diverse and I would have loved to have seen this period of British history through a woman that wasn't white but that is the only gripe I have with the books as whole. 

I cannot recommend this book enough. If nothing else, read it for the gay suffragettes (there is the argument that Nell could be trans too, at the very least genderqueer). Please just read it. It is one of my favourite books I have read so far in 2017 which is something I never thought I would say about a historical novel!

I am so happy that this book has been written; I'ma big fan of YA novels that consider the experiences of teenagers in important historical periods, and Sally Nicholls' choice of early 20th century London and the Suffragette movement is enthralling.
I found the depiction of the 3 central heroines both educational and entertaining. My favourite was privileged Evelyn, who joins the Suffragettes primarily as an act of petulance, rebelling against the parents who won't let her go to Oxford and would prefer her to practise being an obedient wife. Working class Nell represents the opposite end of society, sharing a 2 room home with 5 siblings and her parents, as well as questioning her sexuality. The third protagonist is May, following her mother on Suffragette marches and peace initiatives from a life of relative comfort. 
The level of historical detail here is excellent, with relevant references to real-life figures like Sylvia Pankhurst and Emily Wilding Davison neatly woven into the narrative. Aspects of the Suffragettes' struggle, particularly hunger strikes and their effects on the body, are well-used, adding both depth and horror to the description of how the vote was finally gained. I found the representation of the fight for Votes for Women really compelling.
Inevitably, as it's a historical novel set in that period, World War I comes along and ruins everything; aside from the terrible impact on each of the main characters, this has an effect on the story too, as the fight for women's rights falls to the wayside. Obviously this is historically accurate (and I also learned new things about how the Suffragettes contributed to supporting families left behind as husbands and fathers went off to fight) but I missed the strong feminist outlook of the book's first half.
Overall, I strongly recommend this book, both to teen and adult readers. It offers a fascinating perspective on a turbulent and crucial period of history, as well as being extremely well-written and, when appropriate, highly entertaining.

Review to be published at wildeonmyside.wordpress.com in Sept.

I found this book very well thought out and overall fascinating.

This is just a wonderful book. I loved reading about the struggles, especially for women, they experienced at that time. It's unlike any book I've read before.

I loved this book, it blended so many of the books for adults about this era (Vera Brittain, Pat Barker etc) into a moving story about how three teenagers dealt with WW1 and learned about themselves. Lots of plot strands but all cleverly written and like so many in 1918 and end happened just maybe not the happy ever after one...