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ryn_richmond's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Absolutely a book about white feminism in Britain in the early 1900s. Sometimes great information, often trailing into tangents.
lmn9812's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fascinating and vividly told historical journey into the interconnections between women, suffrage and science. As my PhD is focusing on a similar topic (suffrage and the legal profession), I found this infinitely interesting. It took me a little while to get into the book, mainly because this is an under-researched topic area and as such the Patricia had a wide breadth of information to cover. Because of this, it sometimes read as a bit dense. HOWEVER, once I'd got into the structure of A LAB OF ONE'S OWN, I devoured it. I find popular history books like this SO inspiring--bringing a less well known aspect of our history to light is such an important calling, and Patricia's offering was spectacular. I'm definitely going to have to pick up her backlist.
gabe_reads's review against another edition
3.0
The main reason this is a 3 is because I struggle to get into the kinds of books which are basically just a list of what happened to one person and then another and then another.
Despite this, it was a really interesting book about the role of women in science before, during and after the second world war. The general story is of the immense difficulty of women to engage in meaningful work before the war. This changed during the war as there was such a desperate requirement that women were drafted into work that they’d previously been forcefully excluded from. Suffragists took advantage of this to prove that women were capable and responsible in the way men were. There was also still a massive amount of resistance from men at every point in the system. Then, after the war women were effectively removed from the roles they’d worked in and stripped of the new freedoms they’d experienced. It was actually shocking how ridiculous the turnaround was from celebrating women’s war work to going back to pretending they were ditzy dummies who couldn’t do big boy work. I was consistently amazed by the drive and ability of some of these people to defy everything that was thrown in their way.
I was particularly struck by Dr Isabel Emslie Hutton, who built and ran hospitals in Europe during and after the war through what seemed like sheer force of will (not to detract from her very obvious skills). It does remind me how lucky I am to have had such an easy route in life to where I am. It was also interesting that so much of the research was based on the Oxbridge women’s colleges, apparently because they kept very good records of what their members achieved. It was also important to remember how many of the descendants of these attitudes and views are still holding women back today.
Despite this, it was a really interesting book about the role of women in science before, during and after the second world war. The general story is of the immense difficulty of women to engage in meaningful work before the war. This changed during the war as there was such a desperate requirement that women were drafted into work that they’d previously been forcefully excluded from. Suffragists took advantage of this to prove that women were capable and responsible in the way men were. There was also still a massive amount of resistance from men at every point in the system. Then, after the war women were effectively removed from the roles they’d worked in and stripped of the new freedoms they’d experienced. It was actually shocking how ridiculous the turnaround was from celebrating women’s war work to going back to pretending they were ditzy dummies who couldn’t do big boy work. I was consistently amazed by the drive and ability of some of these people to defy everything that was thrown in their way.
I was particularly struck by Dr Isabel Emslie Hutton, who built and ran hospitals in Europe during and after the war through what seemed like sheer force of will (not to detract from her very obvious skills). It does remind me how lucky I am to have had such an easy route in life to where I am. It was also interesting that so much of the research was based on the Oxbridge women’s colleges, apparently because they kept very good records of what their members achieved. It was also important to remember how many of the descendants of these attitudes and views are still holding women back today.
abi_g_mac's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.25
Interesting and informative. I particularly liked that Fara talks about women whose accomplishments have been forgotten by other accounts of Britain during WW1.
Having read this book shortly after Invisible Women, I found that learning more about the history of women and work helped to make sense of how we've arrived to where we are now. Although there is a long way to go, the past 150 years has seen a lot of progress.
Having read this book shortly after Invisible Women, I found that learning more about the history of women and work helped to make sense of how we've arrived to where we are now. Although there is a long way to go, the past 150 years has seen a lot of progress.
ralovesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
"Resilience rivalled brilliance as an essential qualification for earning a scientific living."
A Lab of One's Own, by Patricia Fara, is an in-depth exploration of the intersection of women's suffrage and scientific ambition in England up to and during WWI. As I finished the book, I reflected on the immense obstacles that the women of history overcame in order to hold their own in academia, the research laboratory, and the operating room. It reminded me of The Woman Who Smashed Codes, by Jason Fagone, how the women worked tirelessly and often without credit. Despite progress in voting rights and earning doctorate degrees, I was struck by how much has persisted in the challenges of being a professional woman: accusations of being masculine, pressure to maintain family and household, and lower pay for equal work. Indeed, when women went to work in munitions factories, the work was immediately downgraded as "unskilled" in order to justify the lower pay! Guh. Here's to keeping on keeping on.
A Lab of One's Own, by Patricia Fara, is an in-depth exploration of the intersection of women's suffrage and scientific ambition in England up to and during WWI. As I finished the book, I reflected on the immense obstacles that the women of history overcame in order to hold their own in academia, the research laboratory, and the operating room. It reminded me of The Woman Who Smashed Codes, by Jason Fagone, how the women worked tirelessly and often without credit. Despite progress in voting rights and earning doctorate degrees, I was struck by how much has persisted in the challenges of being a professional woman: accusations of being masculine, pressure to maintain family and household, and lower pay for equal work. Indeed, when women went to work in munitions factories, the work was immediately downgraded as "unskilled" in order to justify the lower pay! Guh. Here's to keeping on keeping on.
geekberry's review against another edition
4.0
Dense reading with a constant barrage of names (which I'm bad with) and jumpy timeline, and heavy reading because of attitudes that should have changed but haven't. I was concerned at first that the book was too focused on suffrage and not focused enough on the science it was supposed to be about, but later chapters alleviated that fear. I'm coming away from this experience satisfied and having learnt something.