Review by Susan Elkin
THE COURAGE GAME
by Jeni Whitaker
Published by Troubador
This is the best novel I’ve read about the Suffragettes who fought for votes for women before the First World War. It’s a compelling page turner which really nails their uncertainties, split loyalties, determination, sacrifices and suffering.
It’s a first-person narrative in which we learn about Gladys’s childhood in Ireland as one of seven, the move to England, teacher training and, eventually being drawn into “the cause” partly because of her social conscience, but also because of her strong sense of injustice. Her activities inevitably alienate her parents as would her love affair with Michael if they’d known about it.
It’s carefully researched. The accounts of forcible feeding and its long-term after-effects are graphic and shocking but every character and situation is presented in a balanced way. Some of the doctors with feeding tubes are distressed and
