Double Lives

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2021
Shortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2021
Longlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown 2021

‘Fabulous’ – The Times
‘A milestone in women’s history’ – Observer
‘Groundbreaking … a fascinating read’ – Herald

In Britain today, three-quarters of mothers are in employment and paid work is an unremarkable feature of women’s lives after childbirth. Yet a century ago, working mothers were in the minority, excluded altogether from many occupations, whilst their wage-earning was widely perceived as a social ill. In Double Lives,Helen McCarthy accounts for this remarkable transformation and the momentous consequences it has had for Britain.

Recovering the everyday worlds of working mothers, this groundbreaking history forces us not only to re-evaluate the past, but to ask anew how current attitudes towards mothers in the workplace have developed and how far we have to go.

‘Impressive and nuanced’ – Guardian
‘Brilliant’ – Literary Review