She Wrote Too Celebrating the fabulous women writers that have gone before us.

An early feminist novel set in South Africa in 1883, this book is an interesting and unusual literary work. It is a generic hybrid in that in some ways it is new woman fiction whilst also having many other elements such as Dickensian farce, spiritual musings, gothic elements and melodrama. It follows three central characters from their childhood in South Africa to their adults lives exploring their development and ideas as well as their love interests and encounters with other interesting characters on the way.
In this podcast we discuss the themes of the novel, a little of Schreiner’s life and attitudes and some of the issues that arise in the book.
We do give a warning that there is mention of child death in the discussion. We also mention the issue of the racist terms that were used in South Africa at the time - although these are not explicitly said.
We hope you enjoy this podcast. For extra content, please do join us on social media on Facebook and Instagram for more information about women writers that have gone before us.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shewrotetoo.substack.com

In this episode of She Wrote Too, we welcome a special guest, novelist and booktuber, Katie Lumsden to discuss Amy Dillwyn’s The Rebecca Rioter.
Katie wrote The Secrets of Hartwood Hall a gothic novel set in Victorian England. Her new novel, The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hall, is available for pre-order now and will be out in July.
We discuss the novel, The background to the Rebecca Riots and a little of Amy Dillwyn’s life. Katie mentions an article Professor Kirsti Bohata. ‘A Queer-Looking Lot of Women’: cross-dressing, transgender ventriloquism and same-sex desire in The Rebecca Rioter. The Victorian Review, 44(1), 113-130:
A very interesting and informative site on Dillwyn and this book can be found on the Literary Atlas of Wales.
The Rebecca Rioter, published in 1880, is a novel based on the notorious Rebecca Riots in south and west Wales in the early nineteenth century. It is told from the perspective of Evan, a working class participant in the riots in which the people protested against the imposition of toll bridges; it was a protest against wider social inequalities and the poor treatment of the working people. The outcome of the riots has a profound effect on Evan and the woman he admires.
As usual, in the podcast, we do discuss the plot as a whole and so there are ‘spoilers’ about the Rebecca Rioter. There are no ‘spoilers’ regarding Katie’s books.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shewrotetoo.substack.com

Amy Lowell 1874 - 1925 was an American poet, writer, editor, speaker, activist and campaigner. She wrote in excess of 650 poems many of which would be classified as Imagist poems. In this episode of She Wrote Too, we consider a little about her life, the Imagist movement and explore four of Lowell’s poems.
Amy Lowell among her Contemporaries by Carl Rollyson is an insightful read for anyone with an interest in Lowell’s life as she suffered from some hostile accounts from some of her contemporaries which for some time diminished her reputation. We discuss some of the points raised by Rollyson about some of the reasons why this best-selling and prolific writer was treated with ill-will by her peers. Although, in our podcast, we chose to focus on her life and achievements and not the attempts to side-line her.
More biographical information can be found from the Poetry Foundation as can a selection of her poetry.
Links to the poems we discuss in this episode:
In a Garden
The Emperor’s Garden
The Artist
September 1918
You can find out more about how Amy Lowell considered that poetry is a craft that can be learned here.
You can listen to a further discussion on Amy Lowell and her place in the imagist movement on Imagiste on BBC Sounds which considers how Lowell and H.D. changed the direction of poetry with the ‘subversive beauty’ of their writing.




This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shewrotetoo.substack.com

Welcome to the second of our podcasts in 2024, as we are now riding the fourth wave of feminism, we look back at the literature of the early days of the movement when women were writing - and writing very well in Victorian times and at the outset of the 20th Century - but were neglected by the canon as time went on. In this new series, we will be considering some of the reasons behind that - including deliberate sabotage campaigns.
In this episode, we are looking at the utopian novel by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland (1915).  This novel concerns the story of a feminist utopia and three men who embark on an expedition to discover this mysterious land populated entirely by women.  The three men, Terry, Van and Jeff fly to explore this unique country in Terry’s plane.  Terry is a wealthy, macho explorer who would describe himself as an alpha male.  The different characters of the men are explored whilst they make discoveries about this island that is both populated and ruled entirely by women.
Unusually, the plot is not necessarily the most important aspect of this writing as it is an exploration of a wide range of ideas; patriarchy, feminism, power, environment, politics and many other sociological issues.  
As a utopia, it invites comparison with our earlier episode of She Wrote Too in Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sahkawat Hossain - a novel which does not develop any men as characters.
About the auth
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) is probably best known for her short story The Yellow Wallpaper which tells the semi-autobiographical story of a woman suffering from severe post-natal depression, touching on psychosis.  She is not a forgotten writer, but this particular novel rather lives in the shadow of The Yellow Wallpaper and we considered it was time that it was brought into the light.
Gilman had a turbulent early life with the departure of her father from the family, relative poverty and attendance at many different schools followed by a very mixed career which had, as its primary purpose, ways to bring in income - from soap-selling to illustration.  She was a pragmatic, hard-working woman. Her talent and intelligence together with a little more of her family life and career are discussed in the podcast.
Book Club
This is the first in our SWT Book Club and we warmly invite you to get involved!  You can join as club of one, you could start a new club (see our downloadable Hints sheet on tips for starting a book club) or you could let your existing book club in on this.
A complete list of this year’s books is available to download on the Book Club page so that you can pick and choose what you would like to be involved with. All of our podcasts from 2023 are still available to use and explore - so please help yourself!
Membership of the book club provides access to suggested topics of discussion, further articles and special features together with a discussion forum to share your thoughts.  The membership level is just £5 a month - less than a coffee and brownie. Joining is so appreciated as it will assist us in being able to devote the time we need to develop this into a great resource that can be widely enjoyed.
Please do let us have your comments and suggestions or any questions that you may have about She Wrote Too.  
If demand is there, we can run live book group meet-ups online for Book Club members, so let us know if you would like to take part in that.
We hope you enjoy this episode.  Happy reading and listening!


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shewrotetoo.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shewrotetoo.substack.com

Gertrude Jennings (1877–1958) was a prolific playwright throughout her long life. She mainly wrote comedies which, whilst being entertaining and funny, often dealt with weighty issues such as class, suffrage and political matters - with a light touch and veneer of frivolity.
This play, as with many of her others, is in one act and would be straightforward to stage. In this episode we consider how effectively Jennings creates interesting and engaging characters whilst dismantling anti-suffrage arguments in a gentle yet convincing and funny way.
Do visit this page again for further biographical information and further comment on some of her other works. In addition, look out for our own dramatised version of Jennings work in 2024.
We hope you enjoy this episode of She Wrote Too.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shewrotetoo.substack.com