Old Baggage by Lissa Evans

I discovered “Old Baggage” by Lissa Evans while looking around in Waterstones. It was advertised as one of the Book of the Month reads and it looked quite interesting, specially as it’s about the suffragettes and empowering women.

I bought it straight away and it sat on my TBR shelf for more than a month until I finally got to it.

I can tell you that it’s an easy read. A funny and refreshing read from Lisa Evans who is a brilliant storyteller.

Lissa Evans shows great sympathy for her characters and I found myself carrying about them as well. Her book became a real ‘page-turner’ for me and I really wanted to find out what happens next.

Chasing a handbag-snatcher across the Heath leads to an incident which inspires Mattie, a one time Suffragette to form a plan to help young girls grow into more informed and independent women.  Further along, we meet different characters, one more interesting than the other and the story grows and grows keeping the reader entertained to the end.

The themes of friendship, feminism, knowing and being true to oneself are woven so seamlessly into the story that you completely forget this is actually a book with some important things to say.

Empowering women in a world ruled by men, fighting to win the right to vote and with it recognise women as more than quiet house wives and mothers is a message that comes loudly out of this book.

“When are you lot going to shut up?” a Bow Street policeman had once enquired, and from every cell had come the shout, NEVER . 

The ending is unexpected but made me love the book more and as I finished it I closed the last page with a smile on my face.