Society has never known what to do with its rebellious women.
Those who defied expectations about feminine behaviour have long been
considered dangerous and unnatural, and ever since the Victorian era
they have been removed from public view, locked up and often forgotten
about. Many of these women ended up at HM Prison Holloway, the
self-proclaimed 'terror to evil-doers' which, until its closure in 2016,
was western Europe's largest women's prison.
First built in
1852 as a House of Correction, Holloway's women have come from all
corners of the UK - whether a patriot from Scotland, a suffragette from
Huddersfield, or a spy from the Isle of Wight - and from all walks of
life - socialites and prostitutes, sporting stars and nightclub queens,
refugees and freedom fighters. They were imprisoned for treason and
murder, for begging, performing abortions and stealing clothing coupons,
for masquerading as men, running brothels and attempting suicide. In
Bad Girls, Caitlin Davies tells their stories and shows how women have
been treated in our justice system over more than a century, what crimes
- real or imagined - they committed, who found them guilty and why.
It is a story of victimization and resistance; of oppression and
bravery. From the women who escaped the hangman's noose - and those who
didn't - to those who escaped Holloway altogether, Bad Girls is a
fascinating look at how disobedient and defiant women changed not only
the prison service, but the course of history.
'Insightful and thought-provoking and makes for a ripping good read'
JEREMY CORBYN Davies
explores how society has dealt with disobedient women - from
suffragettes to refugees to women seeking abortions - for decades, and
how they've failed to silence those who won't go down without a fight'
STYLIST
Bad Girls : The Rebels and Renegades of Holloway Prison - Caitlin Davies
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£10.99