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| Unbound 3 march 2022 My thanks to the publishers and The Book Publicist for my copy of this book |
Why do women find it so hard to speak of their achievements? Why, more than 100 years after women won the right to vote in the UK, are they still reluctant to speak up and share the stories that make them proud?
100 Voices is a bold and inspiring anthology of women daring to let loose their voices on the world. Featuring memoir, poetry and fiction, the collection is an eclectic treasure trove of women’s achievements, offering 400 pages of female role models for those women yet to find the words to ‘speak me’.
Packed with unheard stories of real-life women’s accomplishments, the book is a tribute to women everywhere – celebrating their remarkable resilience, creativity and above all, ambition.
From making lemon curd to completing a marathon, finding ‘me time’ as a mum to learning Bengali, a refugee eating English food for the first time to riding a motorbike, these stories are action calls for women to give themselves permission to be proud - and loud about it.
With a foreword from Deborah Frances-White of the Guilty Feminist and an impressive list of female-identifying contributors from across the country, including Women’s Prize long-listed author Yvonne Batlle-Felton, playwright in residence at the Globe Theatre Sabrina Mahfouz, and disability campaigner Isabelle Clement, these stories are as diverse and inspirational as their authors.
📖 My Review...
On its Publication Day and just in time for International Women's Day on the 8th March I am delighted to share my thoughts about 100 Voices which, as it says on the cover, gives a voice to 100 women who each have something interesting to share.
100 voices is a comprehensive collaboration from women from all different backgrounds which reminds us of the amazing achievement in the 100 years since women gained the vote in the UK.
Beautifully written, and with thought-provoking truthfulness, the book is divided into sections:
Voices that Started it All
Voices that are (no longer) Silent
Voices that Taught
Voices that went the Distance
Voices in the Dark ( and out of it)
Voices Together
Relentless Voices
I won't single out any specific stories for more praise than others as this collection is better read without me spoiling it but I will say that I found much to enjoy in each of the sections, and as I dipped into and out of the stories, I enjoyed the impact of the experiences, so eloquently expressed. The book is a generous size, over 440 pages, so it took me a little while to get through as I read the individual stories out of sequential order, reading a couple at a time, but that didn't detract from its impact. I liked how the stories and poems were short and snappy and gave me much to think about.
100 Voices : 100 Women Share Their Stories Of Achievement reminds us that we all have something to to share and if this book empowers women to acknowledge and be proud of their achievements then it will have done what it set out to do, that is, to give women permission to celebrate resilience, creativity and above all, ambition. 100 Voices is one of those books which will sit comfortably on my book shelf to be my inspiration when life gets a bit challenging.
About the Editor
Miranda Roszkowski is a writer and civil servant currently living on a boat on Britain’s waterways. She has worked with the National Theatre Wales and Royal Court playwrighting programmes and has had fiction published in print and online, including through Birkbeck’s Mechanic’s Institute Review, which she has previously edited. She is the host and curator of the spoken word night There Goes The Neighbourhood in Hackney, London and is currently working on her first novel.
