Read more
The fin de siecle was a time of social and cultural upheaval, with many women living more adventurous and defiant lives than their mothers would ever have dreamed possible. This is the true story of an Englishwoman who staged her own death and re-invented herself in the far colony of New Zealand, in the early 1900s. Grace Oakeshott's life is revealed through the reform movements of the period, including education for girls, ethical socialism, Victorian evangelicalism, and the changing nature of marriage. As a social activist, Grace rubbed shoulders with many notable figures, including William Morris, H. G. Wells, and Sydney and Beatrice Webb. Jocelyn Robson uses a rich collection of historical sources, including contemporary fiction and social commentary, archive documents and interviews with surviving family members. Through the lives of Grace and those close to her we discover what drove people to act in extraordinary (as well as ordinary) ways.
List of contents
Introduction Prologue PART I 1. Radicals in Suburbia 2. Learning Curves 3. Finding Their Own Way 4. 'Another Word for Suicide' 5. 'Fellowship is Heaven' PART II 6. Answering the Call 7. 'Not Much Home About It' 8. Behind Closed Doors 9. Girls in Trades 10. Medical Men PART III 11. A Place to Begin Again 12. 'Ignoble Motives' 13. The Politics of Knitting 14. Landfall 15. After Lives
About the author
Jocelyn Robson has worked as a researcher and teacher in further and higher education and has special interests in women's history and vocational training. Raised in New Zealand and living in London, she is now a fulltime writer.
Summary
In 1907, Grace Oakeshott faked her own death by drowning. Aged 35, she left a marriage and a successful professional life in England and fled with her lover, Walter Reeve, to New Zealand. What prompted her to do so? Jocelyn Robson traces her life story through social, political and religious reform movements of the fin de siècle period.
Additional text
“This lucidly-written book ostensibly concerns, and resolves, the mystery of Grace Oakeshott’s faked suicide in 1907 when she appeared to have drowned off the coast of Brittany. … The author has written a readable and informative book which will appeal to those interested in local and social history as well as in, this often intriguing, biography.” (Brian Lancaster, CHNSS Bulletin, Vol. 157, September, 2016)
Report
"This lucidly-written book ostensibly concerns, and resolves, the mystery of Grace Oakeshott's faked suicide in 1907 when she appeared to have drowned off the coast of Brittany. ... The author has written a readable and informative book which will appeal to those interested in local and social history as well as in, this often intriguing, biography." (Brian Lancaster, CHNSS Bulletin, Vol. 157, September, 2016)
