Published in 2022
240 pages
Margaret C. Jones was Senior Lecturer at the Department of English, University of the West of England, UK. She is now a writer, primarily of feminist biographies such as Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen: Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians and Heretics and Hellraisers: Women of The Masses.
What is this book about?
In Victorian England, Amelia B. Edwards was an iconic cultural figure, admired by Trollope and Browning for her best-selling fiction and by the wider public for her witty, thought-provoking travel writing. In later life, she became a celebrated historian, bringing fresh understanding of the world of Ancient Egypt to a fascinated public and founding the Egyptian Exploration Fund (Society).
This new biography uses previously overlooked sources to tell the story of her fascinating and unconventional life – her travels, travails and feminist activism – as well as touching on her occasionally problematic views on race. In appreciation of a figure ahead of her time, it examines her involvement in suffrage and animal rights societies as well as revealing new insights into Edwards’ loving same-sex relationships with Ellen Rice Byrne and Lucy Renshaw. In doing so, it reveals a versatile, creative, witty, independent woman, and a true pioneer of her time.
