Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties - Softcover

Cooke, Rachel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062333879 ISBN 13: 9780062333872

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2015

Synopsis

An exuberant group biography--"a splendidly various collection of 'brief lives' written with both gusto and sensitivity" (The Guardian)--that follows ten women in 1950s Britain whose pioneering lives paved the way for feminism and laid the foundation of modern women's success.

In Her Brilliant Career, Rachel Cooke goes back in time to offer an entertaining and iconoclastic look at ten women in the 1950s--pioneers whose professional careers and complicated private lives helped to create the opportunities available to today's women. These plucky and ambitious individuals--among them a film director, a cook, an architect, an editor, an archaeologist, a race car driver--left the house, discovered the bliss of work, and ushered in the era of the working woman.

Daring and independent, these remarkable unsung heroines--whose obscurity makes their accomplishments all the more astonishing and relevant --loved passionately, challenged men's control, made their own mistakes, and took life on their own terms, breaking new ground and offering inspiration. Their individual portraits gradually form a landscape of 1950s culture, and women's unique--and rapidly evolving--role.

Before there could be a Danica Patrick, there had to be a Sheila van Damm; before there was Barbara Walters, there was Nancy Spain; before there was Kathryn Bigelow, came Muriel Box. The pioneers of Her Brilliant Career forever changed the fabric of culture, society, and the work force.

This is the Fifties, retold: vivid, surprising and, most of all, modern.

Her Brilliant Career is illustrated with more than 80 black-and-white photographs.

About this title

Review:

"Cooke's droll, pressing style is what binds the stories together; no sooner do we embark than we know we will not be disappointed, though every portrait is different, every life depicted complex and, at times, startling."--Barbara Bamberger Scott, Bookreporter.com

"Cooke is one of the outstanding British journalists of her generation."--Sebastian Faulks

"Lively.... Cooke offers up a "sly kind of feminism" with this collection of rule-breakers and role models...What shines through in these intimate stories is Cooke's respect for her subjects' shared attitude of 'derring-do'."--Joanna Scutts, Washington Post

"In a series of engaging, gossipy essays, filled with sharp observations, she examines the lives of 10 very different women.... It's clever and amusing, a series of sketches that provide a revealing glimpse into the culture of 1950s Britain."--Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal

"Both entertaining and touching.... It's Cooke's intention to "make people reconsider the 'lost' decade between the war and feminism" and to "pull the reader along" with these tales of "derring-do." She succeeds on every count."--Buzzy Jackson, Boston Globe

"Shines a new light in an elegantly original way into the 1950s.... A very enjoyable and distinctive book."--Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life

"Reveals the challenges, failures, triumphs and sex lives of those who came of age during World War II by defying society's expectations...The men and women, loves and losses that shaped them are a fascinating reminder of how the choices we make both imprison and free us."--Patty Rhule, USA Today

"I always thought of British women of the sixties as cultural pioneers, but I had no idea how fascinating and accomplished--how daring and tough--were the women of the decade before. Thank you, Rachel Cooke, for stylishly adding a chapter to this provincial American's personal women's studies curriculum."--Sheila Weller, author of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon-and the Journey of a Generation

"The lessons gleaned from these women of another era are timeless and relatable."--Natasha Awasthi, Fast Company

"The stories are insightful and crafted with care.... A satisfying read for anyone interested in narratives about women's lives in the early to mid-20th century."--Library Journal

Book Description:

A witty and touching account of ten inspirational figures that makes us reconsider conventional ideas of the fifties woman.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0062333879
• ISBN 13: 9780062333872
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368