Double Lives: A History of Working Motherhood

"Yes, it is. In that sense, I suppose, the canvas is the smallest of all our canvases. It’s a hugely impressive look at how women have managed to manage families, and manage work over this whole period. You get a sense of the unsung heroism and the fact that to begin with, work and motherhood was not a combination that at least men approved of. Often, women didn’t approve of it either. To begin with, it’s the story of people whom society doesn’t really want to exist. And yet, by the end of the story, it’s become one of the norms of our society. So it’s intriguing, it’s substantial and it’s original. It’s a very carefully bounded subject, and what is nice about that is that it shows the complete turnaround on the subject, from working women as problems or victims to being the norm. There’s a really strong sign-off conclusion, which takes quite a nice swipe at some male historians. I won’t name names. It starts in the late 19th century, and goes into the 20th. It’s a century story within a particular country. Inevitably, it’s both because if you didn’t use oral history, you’d be missing out on so much. But it manages to cover the whole range of sources you might look at. So, newspapers, official archives, private reminiscences and letters, as well as oral history. It’s a nice balance."