Helen Taylor and her Fight for the People (Hardback)

You know it’s going to be a good book when it starts with a brawl. Helen Taylor and Her Fight for the People by Janet Smith resurfaces the story of an important figure in women’s and social movements in England (and Ireland and Scotland) in the late 19th century. Often remembered (if at all!) as Harriet Taylor Mill’s daughter and John Stuart Mill’s stepdaughter (she was also his collaborator), she was in her own right a prominent and accomplished political figure. The causes she advanced included equal pay for women teachers, free education for all, land reform (she advocated nationalizing all land), Irish home rule, and of course, women’s suffrage. A London school board member, her advocacy for education also included an equitable curriculum for girls and, in effect, day care at schools (which she had seen in other countries), so that instead of being made to stay home to take care of their younger siblings, girls could attend school. Taylor was also the first woman to run for Parliament (the catalyst for the aforementioned brawl at a campaign event). She was a forceful personality (as she would have needed to be), and the book is a reminder of how, frankly, silly it is to fixate on a female political figure’s likability instead of her efficacy. A contemporary who recognized that described her as “one of the most gifted champions of the working class which this country has ever had.” In addition to reconstructing Taylor’s contributions, the book is a lively and engaging political and social history of England and beyond.

NetGalley, E W Parker