{"title":"Books by Tessa Boase","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780711263383","title":"Etta Lemon","description":"\u003cb\u003eRead the fascinating story of one of the greatest unsung figures of the nature conservation movement, founder of the RSPB and icon of early animal rights activism, Etta Lemon.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A heroine for our times, \u003cb\u003eEtta Lemon\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003ecampaigned for fifty years against the worldwide slaughter of birds \u003c\/b\u003efor extravagantly feathered hats. Her legacy is the \u003cb\u003eRSPB\u003c\/b\u003e, grown from an all-female pressure group of 1889 with the splendidly simple pledge: Wear No Feathers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Etta’s \u003cb\u003elong battle against ‘murderous millinery’\u003c\/b\u003e triumphed with the Plumage Act of 1921 – but her legacy has been eclipsed by the more glamorous campaign for the vote, led by the elegantly plumed \u003cb\u003eEmmeline Pankhurst\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This gripping narrative explores\u003cb\u003e two formidable heroines and their rival, overlapping campaigns.\u003c\/b\u003e Moving from the feather workers’ slums to high society, from the first female political rally to the rise of the eco-feminist, it restores \u003cb\u003eEtta Lemon\u003c\/b\u003e to her rightful place in history – the extraordinary woman who saved the birds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ETTA LEMON was originally published in hardback in 2018 under the title of MRS PANKHURST'S PURPLE FEATHER.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'A great story of pioneering conservation.' \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eKATE HUMBLE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘Quite brilliant. Meticulous and perceptive. A triumph of a book.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCHARLIE ELDER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ‘Shocking and entertaining. The surprising story of the campaigning women who changed Britain.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eVIRGINIA NICHOLSON\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A fascinating and moving story, vividly told.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJOHN CAREY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e ‘A fascinating clash of two causes: rights for women and rights for birds to fly free not adorn suffragettes’ hats. An illuminating story, provocative, well-researched and brilliantly told.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDIANA SOUHAMI\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204053991602,"sku":"9780711263383","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780711263383.jpg?v=1786014691"},{"product_id":"9781781314104","title":"The Housekeeper's Tale","description":"\u003cp\u003eWorking as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a nineteenth and early twentieth century woman could want - and also one of the toughest. A far cry from the \u003ci\u003eDownton Abbey\u003c\/i\u003e fiction, the real life Mrs. Hughes was up against capricious mistresses, low pay, no job security and grueling physical labor. Until now, her story has never been told. \u003ci\u003eThe Housekeeper's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the personal sacrifices, bitter disputes and driving ambition that shaped these women's careers. Delving into secret diaries, unpublished letters and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories of five working women who ran some of Britain's most prominent households.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is Dorothy Doar, Regency housekeeper for the obscenely wealthy 1st Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire. There is Sarah Wells, a deaf and elderly Victorian in charge of Uppark, West Sussex. Ellen Penketh is Edwardian cook-housekeeper at the sociable but impecunious Erddig Hall in the Welsh borders. Hannah Mackenzie runs Wrest Park in Bedfordshire - Britain's first country-house war hospital, bankrolled by playwright J. M. Barrie. And there is Grace Higgens, cook-housekeeper to the Bloomsbury set at Charleston farmhouse in East Sussex for half a century - an era defined by the Second World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRevelatory, gripping and unexpectedly poignant, \u003ci\u003eThe Housekeeper's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e champions the invisible women who ran the English country house.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205031100594,"sku":"9781781314104","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781781314104_48ea2937-9907-4a11-b08e-346ed6faffee.jpg?v=1786025778"},{"product_id":"9781838405137","title":"London's Lost Department Stores","description":"Once, every high street had a department store, and they marched the length of Oxford Street. Going up to town to shop at one of these grand emporia and lunch in the top-floor restaurant, or take the children to see Father Christmas, was both a huge treat and completely normal. But the demise of Debenhams, including historic Arding \u0026amp; Hobbs, and Army \u0026amp; Navy at Victoria along with many other House of Fraser stores, confirms that the traditional department store is now an endangered species. In the last five years alone, 83% have gone.   Now, for the first time, Tessa Boase chronicles this fabulous world, from Derry \u0026amp; Toms with its roof garden to the Moderne lines of Holdrons in Peckham Rye (now Mr Khan's Discount), as well as Gamages' peerless toy department, Woollands' 21 Shop for cutting-edge Sixties fashion and Chiesmans' menagerie of snakes and lionesses. There is even a guided walking tour of the West End's lost stores.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307866468725,"sku":"9781838405137","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781838405137_2ec35718-6176-4852-8a05-33397533d9b8.jpg?v=1786028524"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-tessa-boase.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}