Etta Lemon

The Woman Who Saved the Birds

By: Tessa Boase

Narrated by: Tessa Boase

Previously titled Mrs Pankhurst's Purple Feather.

A heroine for our times, Etta Lemon campaigned for 50 years against the worldwide slaughter of birds for extravagantly feathered hats. Her legacy is the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (the RSPB), grown from an all-female pressure group of 1889 with the splendidly simple pledge: Wear No Feathers.

Etta’s long battle against ‘murderous millinery’ triumphed with the Plumage Act of 1921 - but her legacy has been eclipsed by the more glamorous campaign for the vote, led by the elegantly plumed Emmeline Pankhurst.

This gripping narrative explores two formidable heroines and their rival overlapping campaigns. Moving from the feather workers’ slums to high society, from the first female political rally to the rise of the eco feminist, it restores Etta Lemon to her rightful place in history - the extraordinary woman who saved the birds.

©2018 Tessa Boase (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Brilliant

Tessa Boase has crafted a riveting exploration of two important women, each driven by her own single issue. Whether you are interested in birds or women’s movements, this is a fascinating work of creative nonfiction. What’s more, the author does a fantastic job with the narration.