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In the autumn of 1912, a group of young women founded a writing group at Somerville College, Oxford, that changed their lives - and forged a path for generations of ambitious women to come. They called themselves the 'Mutual Admiration Society' - to prevent anyone else from calling them that first. Smart, bold, serious, and funny, these women were also sheltered and chaperoned, barred from receiving degrees despite taking classes and passing exams. They were equally ineligible for full citizenship. But within a few short years, World War I rapidly expanded the rights and opportunities available to women, including the right to vote and access to the professions. Then, in October 1920, members of the Mutual Admiration Society returned to Oxford to receive full degrees, part of the first group of women to have this honour. Mutual Admiration Society follows six women as they navigate the complexities of adulthood, work, intimacy, and sex in Interwar England. The members took advantage of their opportunities: Dorothy L. Sayers, the group's most famous member, made her name as the writer of witty, intelligent murder mysteries at the height of a Golden Age of detective fiction. Muriel St. Clare Byrne was a Shakespeare expert whose love life featured both a revolving door of female lovers and a lifelong partner. Charis (Barnett) Frankenburg was a child-rearing expert, birth control advocate and one of the first female Justices of the Peace. Dorothy Rowe became a teacher and founded a theatre company; and Muriel 'Jim' Jaeger was a journalist and science fiction writer. But despite all their achievements, their lives were still shaped by scandal, wars, love affairs, loss and the constant casual cruelty of a world that sharply limited women's choices. In many ways, they were the first generation to be told that they could have it all: personal and professional fulfillment, public dignity and private succor. But they also had to reckon with navigating this responsibility, and learn to live a life that is honest both for head and heart in a society that routinely insists that women choose one or the other. Ultimately, the story of the Mutual Admiration Society is a story about the power of female community and friendship as a means to create the space we need to be ourselves. ...
