From the Publisher
Gregory has the novelist’s eye for the quirky and the vivid; the wryness of a confident narrator. [Normal Women] is a lasting work of social history.” — The Times (UK)
“A triumph of popular history.” — The Spectator
“This ambitious book is a rich contribution to women’s public history—and a powerful reminder that normal women have long made history.” — BBC History Magazine
“Magisterial, exhaustively researched . . . A colourful panorama of social history. Gregory is a gifted storyteller and this well-illustrated read zips along at an enjoyable pace. . . . Her insights are fascinating.” — Daily Mirror (UK)
“Gregory brings her extensive knowledge of women in society over the centuries to . . . [this] tour de force of research.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Richly researched . . . Reveals a number of surprising truths.” — New York Post
“Stunning. . . . Full of surprises. . . . A brilliant, essential read.” — The Independent
Library Journal
04/05/2024
Historical fiction writer Gregory (It's a Prince Thing) chronicles the role British women played in society by era, starting in the year 1086. Her book shows that after the Norman conquest of Britain, convents and abbeys retained power and wealth; they also functioned as learning centers for girls and women, who made and published books, and engaged in the arts. Gregory emphasizes the indispensability of women in a wide variety of professions, including raising livestock, apprenticing in various trades, and working as domestic servants. Women also did healing work, such as herbalism, midwifery, and nursing, despite the restrictions placed on those fields in the 20th century. For instance, though the greatest physical danger for women was childbirth, midwives were forbidden from offering advice on contraception, even in the 1920s. Gregory notes too that sex work was not a permanent occupation for many women but was instead an option to exercise as necessity demanded. Women were also not excluded from military service and stepped into roles of leadership during the Thirty Years' War. VERDICT A comprehensive saga about British women and their obstacles throughout hundreds of years. Suitable for all readers.—Barrie Olmstead
MARCH 2024 - AudioFile
History consists of events conducted mostly by men and recorded by men. In her clear, uncompromising voice, Philippa Gregory turns the tables, taking listeners through 900 years of abuse and betrayals, yearnings and near-miraculous accomplishments of women. Frequent interjections by Clare Corbett, Tania Rodrigues, Nneka Okoye, James Goode, and Joe Jameson provide voices for the court documents, journals, letters, interviews, and diaries Gregory uses to illustrate her exceptional research. Narrating in an engaging matter-of-fact tone, she reveals shockingly repressive laws supported by men and horrific punishments endured by women. Stories of women from all walks of life and classes, including women criminals, women husbands, widows, and spinsters, as well as accounts of rape, racism, sapphism, and unfair wage practices, fill Gregory's expansive social history. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2024-01-04
The bestselling, prolific historical novelist presents “a huge book about women.”
Gregory brings her extensive knowledge of women in society over the centuries to a vast sociological study of the lives of “regular” women throughout the past 900 years. A tour de force of research, the book chronicles the role of women in British society by era, starting with William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book, commissioned in 1086, up until 1994. In each period, the author presents sections on women’s health, marriage, work, crime, punishment, immigration, rape, and “women loving women.” The overall sense reading this dense social history is that “normal” women, in spite of men’s belittling characterizations, made indelible contributions to the British Empire while rarely reaping the benefits. The author keenly delineates the different lives of women by class, such as the arduous life of working women versus aristocratic women, who, though rich in material possessions, were still affected by inadequate diet, constrictive clothing, poor ventilation, and mental strain from severe societal oppression. A familiar, depressing refrain over the centuries is the meager material compensation for women’s work and their deliberate exclusion from “profitable work, from education, from training, from the guilds and trades, and from the professions and from authority.” Particularly enlightening is Gregory’s exploration of Victorian society, from mining strikes, to campaigns for women’s suffrage, to the outrageous hypocrisy of Queen Victoria serving as both a steely emperor and docile wife opposed to women’s rights. Gregory also examines “Sapphism,” “Female Husbands,” and other similar topics suggesting that sexual transitioning was more frequent to women seeking greater roles and autonomy in society than previously regarded by historians. The author concludes in 1994, when the Church of England finally ordained women as priests.
A highly instructive, exhaustive study that reveals the realities behind “ideal” or “inferior” designations of women.
