Mollie Carberry is one of the liveliest characters you will read: a vivacious, intelligent young girl growing up in a comfortably-off family Dublin in 1912, and a suffragette. The book opens in fact with her reassuring a friend ‘I am not in prison’ having recently broken the law for the cause. Political campaigning has to fit in with school and housework, but Mollie is determined to play her part. The story is told through her letters which gives the novel a terrific immediacy and intimacy – Mollie is great fun to be with. Carey also creates a real sense of the times, imperceptibly filling her book with a great deal of historical facts, and giving a real sense of the urgency and excitement of the suffragette movement. This book should get your vote!
Mollie Carberry is a suffragette! Well, sort of. Mollie and her best friend Nora have been bravely fighting for women's rights - even though no one else really knows about it. But when they hear a big protest is being planned, they know they have to take part. If only they didn't have to worry about Nora's terrible cousin, her awful brother and her neighbour's very annoying dog ...
WHEN DID IRISH WOMEN GET THE VOTE? The Representation of the People Act 1918 became law on 6 February 1918. It gave the vote to virtually all men over 21, and women over 30 who met certain requirements. In November 1918 an act was passed which enabled women to stand for parliament in the forthcoming elections. The only woman to win a seat in parliament across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in December 1918 was Constance Markievicz, who was elected by the people of south Dublin but who did not take her seat. In 1922, the new Irish Free State gave the vote to all women over 21, finally giving Irish women the same voting rights as Irish men.
Anna Carey is a freelance journalist from Drumcondra living in Dublin who has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent and many other publications. Anna joined her first band when she was fifteen and went on to sing and play with several bands over the next fifteen years. Her last band, El Diablo, released two albums and toured all over the country. Her first book, The Real Rebecca, was published in 2011, and, to her great surprise, it went on to win the Senior Children’s Book prize at the Irish Book Awards. To the delight of many readers, Rebecca returned in the critically acclaimed Rebecca’s Rules, which was shortlisted for the same prize in 2012 (she didn’t win this time, though).
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