A History of Women's Lives on the Isle of Wight

This look at everyday life for women on a small island off the British coast brings the female experience to the forefront of history.   Ask somebody to give you the name of a woman from history and they'll probably mention a queen. But most women's lives were lived far from a palace, and this unique history delves into the experiences of a diverse range of women living on the Isle of Wight between 1850 and 1950. It covers many aspects of their world, from education to health to relationships to leisure activities, and reveals that—just like the women of today—each had her own thoughts, feelings, and preferences. The only thing they had in common was that they were utterly ordinary—but what is ordinary? Is it a single mother nursing her child through a deadly disease? Is it giving up on your own dreams to take on the role of mother when yours passes on? Is it becoming one of the greatest artists of the modern era, only to wind up with none of your paintings on display in any of the most prestigious museums? As this book shows, the ordinary can be extraordinary, and women don't have to be queens to have stories worth telling.