The Word for Freedom contains twenty-four stories written to commemorate the centenary year of women’s suffrage. A few of the stories remember the fight of the suffragettes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but most of them chart the ongoing fight for freedom that women still face in all corners of the world today. We’ve come a long way, yet there is still so much inequality, and so many more hurdles, that sometimes it doesn’t appear as if we have moved very far at all.
Most women are fighting small inequalities every single day, at work, at home, in every aspect of their everyday lives. There are many things over which we have no control, and in the most extreme cases these are things which can endanger our safety, or even our lives. Every women has the right to walk down the street or through their own front door without fear, and The Word for Freedom is being sold in aid of Hestia and the UK Says No More campaign against domestic abuse and sexual violence.
The stories in The Word for Freedom explore the injustices and harsh reality of many women’s lives, yet there is often bravery, always strength, and an overwhelming sense of hope even in the darkest places. There are tales of abuse of power, of assumptions of male superiority, of modern slavery, and of a woman exercising her vote for the first time.
The anthology includes some great stories told from the teenage perspective, including ‘To the Sea’ by Helen Irene Young, and ‘Relevant’ by Anna Orridge, where a schoolgirl friendship makes the suffragette protests relevant to the modern day.
‘Cover Their Bright Faces’ by Abigail Rowe is the wonderful story of a maiden aunt who represses her forbidden passion for her Girton College soulmate - “Lucy, my light and my salvation”, and highlights the difference between Aunt Portia’s life and the modern day world of her niece, Matty, enjoying a loving and open relationship with her partner, Linda.
I loved Angela Readman’s gorgeous, lyrical, ‘Tiny Valentines’, and Julie Bull’s story, ‘Those Who Trespass Against Us’, showing how both father and husband in turn abuse and stifle the life of Lucy, the protagonist, who is quietly waiting to take back control. ‘Out of Office’ by Emily Kerr is a short and clever story that highlights the continuing problem of pay inequality, and Angela Clarke’s story, ‘Gristle’, is a wonderful tale of revenge.
One of my favourites in the collection is the exquisite ‘The Second Brain’ by Cath Bore. This is a story that most women will relate to - the difficulty of saying ‘I feel uncomfortable’. The excruciating fear that prevents us speaking up about an unwelcome touch, an inappropriate comment, a kiss, or sexual advance. At school, Mrs Parkinson, the biology teacher, tells the class that “butterflies are an indication of the brain in the stomach talking to the brain in your head.” But we’re not talking about the nice kind of butterflies - the ones we get when we look forward to something - we’re talking about the sort with wings that flap angrily, the butterflies that hurt.
The voice is pitch-perfect, exploring and charting the pain of a child not daring to challenge an adult male, and the ongoing struggle of the protagonist as she reaches adulthood, unable to talk down the strangers making her feel uncomfortable with their ‘banter’ or to reject the sexual advances of her boss.
The anthology launches 1st November, published by Retreat West Books, and in aid of a great charity!
You can pre-order The Word for Freedom here
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