Despite the fact that this novel is a work of fiction, it sheds an illuminating light on the Feminist movement, and the struggle that the women trying to forge their own path in the world experienced.
The New Women were the Feminists leading the way in the late nineteenth century. What was so new about them? Well, they were new in the way that they entered into the business environment. There was a stigma about women going to work, especially in urban areas. In rural areas, women tended to work alongside men, pitching in to run farms and smallholdings, not in a feminist way but in a traditional way, keeping the family farm going. But in urban areas, not everyone was thrilled to see women working. As usual, when people are frightened of something changing, they rail against it, and disparage it. So those who liked the way things were tended to be scared of the role of women changing, and consequently tried to cast aspersions as to the character of the women who worked, in an attempt to disparage the pursuit all together. This tells us that the women who worked were indeed a new kind of woman; feisty, bold, daring and determined to change the status quo even if it made their life more difficult.
The New Women were the forerunners of the Suffragettes, and the inspiration to women who believed that they were entitled to more. They also showed that a group effort was often very effective. By determinedly and doggedly standing firm together they achieved some major landmarks for women.
One thing that becomes obvious in the novel is the way in which a woman's character and morality was often the target when it came to attempting to halt the Feminist movement. Men essentially liked keeping women in the home. The obvious thing to do in order to keep them there indefinitely was to make it almost impossible for a woman to function in public without a man. For example, when Lucy goes to Frank Jermyn's house to take photographs of his artwork, she goes alone, which was frowned upon and suggested that she had loose morals. This was the standard barb thrown at women who dared to be different; weak moral standards, no moral backbone. The women who dared to push the feminist movement forwards did not subscribe to these moral judgements, and forged forwards despite being the subject of some very personal attacks.
The other aspect of the novel that is the most interesting is the comparison between women of the late eighteen hundreds, and women today. Although great inroads have been made, it is horrifying to see that there are still many of the same prejudices against women in the workplace today. Customers fully expect to pay the sisters less for their photographic services purely because they are women and should not therefore be paid as much as a man. This is still the case today, as the majority of women still get paid only seventy cents in the dollar compared to men. It is unexpected to see women experiencing the same problems within society two hundred years apart.
