Self-published book of the month: The Right of the Subjects by Jude Starling review

A closely researched and passionately told story of suffragism, this novel could have been greatly improved by a conventional publisher

Submit an entry for next month's award

Publishers: love 'em or hate 'em, we all get alarmed at the notion of their imminent passing and with reason. Here is the reason. Publishers make our books better. They edit, and they give us good advice.

The Right of the Subjects is not a bad novel and could yet be a good one. The subject matter is interesting: the complexities of the lives of the suffragettes, in particular a feisty article named Evana Bailie, who initially gets into women's rights in order to annoy her sister and escape a milltown life of northern drudgery. She heads off to London, where lie glamour, artists, lesbianism, political defiance, prison and poncy southern ladies with money, clean petticoats and different motivations.

Continue reading...