A testament to the achievements of the feminist movement & the complex friendship of two women defined by it.
3.5 stars
Enlightening and engaging in equal measure, Stephanie Butland’s testament to feminism is an accessible guide to the achievements of the Women’s Liberation movement and is underpinned by the friendship of strident second-wave vocal feminist and writer, Leonie Barratt, and the pioneering photographer who chronicled the campaign, Veronica “Vee” Moon. But as Veronica stands on the eve of an exhibition paying tribute to her career, she is faced with the controversial centrepiece and unflinching photograph of her long-term associate and best-friend that ended her career and simultaneously fuelled her retreat from public life. At the age of seventy and beleaguered by serious health issues, Vee’s retrospective is curated by Leonie’s niece, Erica, who is beginning to lose hope that the now reclusive photographer will break her silence on a turbulent friendship that defined the feminist movement.
The narrative is quite ingeniously constructed and as the reader is led through the series of seminal photographs from Vee’s career displayed in the retrospective, each image is accompanied by flashbacks to the time and Leonie’s monthly ‘Dear John’ columns published in This Month magazine. This is then followed by Vee’s reflections in 2018 and curator Erica’s own life and her frustration with her unequal domestic set-up and the burden of childcare falling on her. The first image, taken on the picket line of Ford Dagenham in 1968 as the female machinists demanded equal pay was the inaugural meeting of firebrand radical feminist, Leonie, and eager young photographer Vee Moon. Whilst women’s lib was a source of amusement in the lives of those surrounding Vee at home in Colchester, flirtatious Leonie swiftly takes her under her wing and introduces her to the cause. As Vee is drawn into the thrall of Leonie she quickly becomes devoted to the cause, with the appeal of the movement undoubtedly helped by her sexual attraction to her mentor.
The exhibition itself showcases Vee’s career highlights and is a whirlwind tour through feminism, from protests at the Miss World competition, the right to an abortion, the lack of recognition for domestic violence and the laws to uphold it, through to the right to be served in a pub and Margaret Thatcher becoming the first female leader of the nation. Not only was it shocking to discover how much the Women’s Liberation movement actually had to overcome, I was equally appalled to realise the implications of the legal constraints of the past that held women back.
The character arc of both Leonie and Veronica is brilliantly explored, and as Veronica Moon’s illustrious photography career borne out of the movement took of, an uncompromising Leonie’s vitriolic writing struggled to find publishers and the balance of power shifted. I disliked Leonie’s blatantly unworkable approach to feminism and how she presented herself from the off. Vee is an ambitious and intelligent young woman from the home counties and although fairly naive, I vied with her at the outset, cheering when she showed a bit of backbone and stood up to Leonie and disappointed how easily she was convinced by her intractable attitude towards equality. Including Leonie’s niece, Erica, should have provided the story with a suitable way to reappraise the life of a contemporary intelligent working mother and perhaps if it was more balanced I would have cared. Unfortunately it was too one-sided to hold my interest as Erica attended a march on a whim and literally left her husband holding the baby as overnight she discovered her inner feminist!
This is the second of Stephanie Butland’s novels that I have read and although the mystery element was rather a non-event, and after simply reading the premise I correctly guessed what the controversial photo would depict, on the whole I found it worthwhile. Sustaining the secrecy surrounding the moments prior to the picture being taken heightens its importance unnecessarily however for what is an obvious revelation.
Compellingly constructed and indubitably well-written Stephanie Butland has captured the changing attitudes towards feminism of contemporary women and how, in the case of Erica, it has almost gone backwards. Whilst I enjoyed learning about landmark achievements I failed to connect with Leonie’s attitude and had issues with how she moulded Vee into a person I did not care for, and likewise Vee influenced Erica. To my mind the novel is also rather drawn-out, with the present day thoughts of Vee far less enlightening than the flashbacks to the actual events. I had expected The Woman in the Photograph to be a story of friendship more so than feminism however this is not the case and I did become impatient with the unnecessarily frequent rants on ‘the outdated patriarchy notions of society’!
Enlightening and engaging in equal measure, Stephanie Butland’s testament to feminism is an accessible guide to the achievements of the Women’s Liberation movement and is underpinned by the friendship of strident second-wave vocal feminist and writer, Leonie Barratt, and the pioneering photographer who chronicled the campaign, Veronica “Vee” Moon. But as Veronica stands on the eve of an exhibition paying tribute to her career, she is faced with the controversial centrepiece and unflinching photograph of her long-term associate and best-friend that ended her career and simultaneously fuelled her retreat from public life. At the age of seventy and beleaguered by serious health issues, Vee’s retrospective is curated by Leonie’s niece, Erica, who is beginning to lose hope that the now reclusive photographer will break her silence on a turbulent friendship that defined the feminist movement.
The narrative is quite ingeniously constructed and as the reader is led through the series of seminal photographs from Vee’s career displayed in the retrospective, each image is accompanied by flashbacks to the time and Leonie’s monthly ‘Dear John’ columns published in This Month magazine. This is then followed by Vee’s reflections in 2018 and curator Erica’s own life and her frustration with her unequal domestic set-up and the burden of childcare falling on her. The first image, taken on the picket line of Ford Dagenham in 1968 as the female machinists demanded equal pay was the inaugural meeting of firebrand radical feminist, Leonie, and eager young photographer Vee Moon. Whilst women’s lib was a source of amusement in the lives of those surrounding Vee at home in Colchester, flirtatious Leonie swiftly takes her under her wing and introduces her to the cause. As Vee is drawn into the thrall of Leonie she quickly becomes devoted to the cause, with the appeal of the movement undoubtedly helped by her sexual attraction to her mentor.
The exhibition itself showcases Vee’s career highlights and is a whirlwind tour through feminism, from protests at the Miss World competition, the right to an abortion, the lack of recognition for domestic violence and the laws to uphold it, through to the right to be served in a pub and Margaret Thatcher becoming the first female leader of the nation. Not only was it shocking to discover how much the Women’s Liberation movement actually had to overcome, I was equally appalled to realise the implications of the legal constraints of the past that held women back.
The character arc of both Leonie and Veronica is brilliantly explored, and as Veronica Moon’s illustrious photography career borne out of the movement took of, an uncompromising Leonie’s vitriolic writing struggled to find publishers and the balance of power shifted. I disliked Leonie’s blatantly unworkable approach to feminism and how she presented herself from the off. Vee is an ambitious and intelligent young woman from the home counties and although fairly naive, I vied with her at the outset, cheering when she showed a bit of backbone and stood up to Leonie and disappointed how easily she was convinced by her intractable attitude towards equality. Including Leonie’s niece, Erica, should have provided the story with a suitable way to reappraise the life of a contemporary intelligent working mother and perhaps if it was more balanced I would have cared. Unfortunately it was too one-sided to hold my interest as Erica attended a march on a whim and literally left her husband holding the baby as overnight she discovered her inner feminist!
This is the second of Stephanie Butland’s novels that I have read and although the mystery element was rather a non-event, and after simply reading the premise I correctly guessed what the controversial photo would depict, on the whole I found it worthwhile. Sustaining the secrecy surrounding the moments prior to the picture being taken heightens its importance unnecessarily however for what is an obvious revelation.
Compellingly constructed and indubitably well-written Stephanie Butland has captured the changing attitudes towards feminism of contemporary women and how, in the case of Erica, it has almost gone backwards. Whilst I enjoyed learning about landmark achievements I failed to connect with Leonie’s attitude and had issues with how she moulded Vee into a person I did not care for, and likewise Vee influenced Erica. To my mind the novel is also rather drawn-out, with the present day thoughts of Vee far less enlightening than the flashbacks to the actual events. I had expected The Woman in the Photograph to be a story of friendship more so than feminism however this is not the case and I did become impatient with the unnecessarily frequent rants on ‘the outdated patriarchy notions of society’!