Mid-Century Women's Writing

The mid-century (1930s-60s) was an era of seismic shifts for British women, including those living under British rule in the colonies, in both the public and private spheres. The traditional narrative of these years is that of a wave of expansion and constriction, with the swelling of economic and political freedoms for women in the 1930s, the cresting of women in the public sphere during the Second World War, and the resulting break as employment and political opportunities for women dwindled in the 1950s when men returned home from the front. But as the burgeoning field of interwar and mid-century women's writing has demonstrated, this narrative is in desperate need of re-examination. This book aims to revivify studies of female writers, journalists, broadcasters, and public intellectuals living or working in Britain, or under British rule, during the mid-century while also complicating extant narratives about the divisions between domesticity and politics. The essays in this collection explore how women represented the transformation of the quotidian -- including the home, employment, family life, and religious participation -- during the mid-century.