Virginia Nicholson was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, grew up in Yorkshire and Sussex, and studied at Cambridge University. She lived abroad in France and Italy, then worked as a documentary researcher for the BBC. Her books include the acclaimed social histories Among the Bohemians, Singled Out, Millions Like Us, and Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes. She is married with three children and lives in Sussex.
Virginia Nicholson gets us closer than we have ever been before to
the complicated day-to-day reality of women's lives during that
still controversial decade, the 1950s
*David Kynaston*
Nicholson handles her material with confidence, sympathy and,
ultimately, optimism that for most women things have improved, so
that the abiding emotion is not gloom but, in my case, admiration
for my mother's generation and gratitude that it was so much better
for ours
*Daily Telegraph*
Nicholson uses vivid contemporary sources and oral testimony to
show the constraints under which so many women lived. Like David
Kynaston's Family Britain . . . Nicholson has the same knack of
seamlessly piecing gripping individual stories into a panorama of
ordinary life
*Sunday Times*
An important and humane book of female social history . . . In this
work, Nicholson musters voices to profound and deeply political
effect. Much of the material in this book will be familiar to women
over 55: we were born into this world. For younger women, though,
Nicholson's book should be necessary reading, to remind them how
far we have travelled.
*The Times*
An uplifting and heartwarming read
*Stella*
Nicholson spells out the contradictions of this era so well: a new
world dressed in old clothes
*Indendent on Sunday*
Remarkable. To today's young, it'll sound like life on another
planet
*Daily Mail*
The achievements of the women in this book haunt us and move us to
admiration
*Guardian*
Insightful social history. Mixing research with a wealth of
anecdote, Nicholson brings history to vivid and touching life
*Mail on Sunday*
Poignantly illustrates how the women of the 1950s yearned for the
innovative technology of the era to liberate them from repetitive
drudgery
*Observer*
Indefatigably researched, moving and perceptive, Nicholson handles
her wide-ranging material with sympathy, humour and a lightness of
touch. Her enviable gift for interpretation and storytelling is
balanced by first-hand accounts of those women of the 1950s, their
youth so relatively recent, who have trusted her with the intimate
details of their lives
*Spectator*
There is certainly warmth in [Virginia Nicholson's] curiosity as
she delves into the stories of her mother's generation . . .
Nicholson's judgements are rightly and often amusingly sharp . . .
Her skill as an interviewer leaves her subjects revealing long-kept
secrets and her flair as a writer makes us care about these young
women and what happens to them
*Observer*
Richly detailed. We hear from women working as air hostesses,
housewives, biscuit packers, prostitutes, academics, models,
secretaries and Buttlin's Redcoats. We discover how women felt
entering beatuty contests, having to give up work on marriage,
being defined by their husband's jobs, becomming unmarried mothers,
enduring racism, marching against nuclear weapons and desiring
other women. Nicholson's own commentary, in turns compassionate and
wry, holds everything together
*Independent*
A fascinating look at the lives of ordinary women in 1950s
Britain
*Sunday Times*
Meticulously researched
*Big Issue in the North*
A ground-breaking book, richly nuanced with titbits of information,
insight and understanding
*Daily Mail (on 'Singled Out')*
Remarkably perceptive and well-researched . . . Virginia Nicholson
has produced another extraordinarily interesting work, sensitive,
intelligent and well-written
*Sunday Telegraph (on 'Singled Out')*
An inspiring book, lovingly researched, well-written and humane . .
. the period is beautifully caught
*Economist (on 'Singled Out')*
The popular image is of a world where women wore little frilled
pinafores with immaculately coiffed hair and happy smiles as they
dusted, swept and baked . . . But Nicholson's book reveals a much
darker side of life
*Telegraph, Best Non-Fiction Books of 2015*
Gripping, constantly surprising: a page-turner. We hear at first
hand the life stories of women from different walks of life, from
factory workers to debs. Each story draws you right in and it's
always a wrench to move on
*Country Life*
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