What an absolutely amazing story!

I knew absolutely nothing about Etta Lemon starting this book, simply intrigued about who she was and how she was connected to birds. What a fabulous unknown narrative….. the weaving in of her links with the suffrage movement but from an anti suffrage perspective was very interesting alongside a back drop of society at the time and it’s attitudes towards women. Loved this book, such descriptive narrative I could literally visualise almost every scene. Read passionately by the author herself. Thoroughly enjoyable!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Such a wonderful book!

This is so beautifully written and narrated. I felt at different times moved, fascinated, educated, and outraged in this account of Etta Lemon's life. I'm so glad I got to know her and I now feel as though I do. Thank you for taking the time and the care to write this for us Tessa Boase. I'm off to read your other book now.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Fascinating Listen

I knew a lot about the fight for women’s suffrage already but nothing about the history of the RSPB or the prolific feather industry of the late Victorian era. The book gives a fascinating insight into other political struggles of the time and juxtaposes them against a backdrop of female emancipation. It encourages the reader to consider all sides of the various arguments and leaves us to make up our minds about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, both in relation to the fight for the vote and the fight to prohibit ‘murderous millenary’. Highly recommend this to anyone who thinks they knows about the suffragettes or the origins of the RSPB!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Beautiful & brilliant

Beautifully written and read. An incredible story of welfare and rights. The parallels and overlaps between Etta Lemon’s campaign and the suffrage movement is particularly poignant.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

So good, I listened twice

Prior to hearing this biography, I was completely ignorant of Etta Lemon & her (many) accomplishments. That educational discrepancy has, thankfully, been corrected by listening to this amazing story - so intricately researched & completely without bias.
The ONLY audiobook i've listened to, in entirety, immediately after finishing!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

The perfect audiobook

Wonderfully researched and written and beautifully narrated by the author - this audiobook is a real treat. It’s a fascinating look into the history and characters behind the RSPB and how they interlink with the women’s suffrage movement. I particularly enjoyed the narration by the author. One could argue that the author is the person who knows their work best and is therefore best placed to read the book but this only works if someone is a gifted narrator as well as a wonderful writer as Tessa Boase is. It must have been a fascinating experience to do the research on this book. There are so many interesting little details included that round out the characters. I can’t recommend this highly enough.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Unsung hero’s

Well written and performed by Tessa Boase. We rarely hear about women’s history and thus book is an absolute treat.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Mrs Pankhurst

So much I didn’t know before listening to this. It was excellent. Highly recommend to all

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Biography or a social history?

The title suggests a biography but the book is more than that. I would suggest that it is mistitled, nonetheless, an important and quite worthwhile read.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

An eye opening story of the birth of the RSPB

Overall I really enjoyed this story of Etta lemons campaign and hadn't appreciated the complexity of the millinery trade and the uphill battle that Etta and her fellow campaigners faced . Very much this is a book about politics, social standing and women's sufferage threaded in with the story of Ella's life and many campaign's,most prominent of which was the campaign to end the suffering and,in somd cases , extinction of birds for the sake of fashion.
If I had a criticism of this book it is that it went overly deep into the suffragette movement,which although relevant to the story sometimes became over dominate and it started to feel as those the author was getting sidetracked, however I would still recommend this book and the author/ narrator has a very good voice which is easy to listen to.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!