✦"Courage calls to courage everywhere,
and its voice cannot be denied."
- Millicent Garrett Fawcett



✦'DEEDS, NOT WORDS.'
- the WSPU



✦"Failure is impossible."
- Susan B. Anthony


*** *** ***


The best book I’ve read so far in 2020 and I have to bow down to David Roberts for doing a brilliant job in both the text and illustrations.


Suffragette: The Battle for Equality isn't only an appreciation for all the women and men who fought for their right to vote but also the astonishing stories of courage and persistence I’d never imagined before. They were poor working-class people, they were little women who dared to dream big for a future of equality and didn't back down for once – even often being imprisoned and forced fed hundred times.


The book digs deep into the suffrage campaign, from the perspectives of women's suffrage supporters, moving stories of some brave individuals (my favourites including Muriel Matters with the flying machine, Emily Wilding Davison and her extreme acts, Millicent Garrett Fawcett's peaceful approach for sixty-one years throughout the campaign) to the view of the Antis and the battle for women's suffrage worldwide.


Either campaigning violently (like the renowned suffragettes of the WSPU) or peacefully (like the suffragists of some groups such as my favourite one - the WFL along with the NUWSS) pushing towards the victory of the women’s suffrage movement, each member - to me - should be seen as more of an individual with so much in life than just a heroine charmingly appeared on paper and ink. Thus, I will look for more books to read more and educate myself after finishing this one (recommendations are welcome!).


*


The more I read, the more I feel small – not in a way that what I read belittles who I am but it shows me how I'm capable of so much more. They give hope for who seeks to it, not a hope flashing in one night but a kind of hope that is built from faith through time and effort.