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A review by vernalequinox
Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade
3.0
Overall, this is a well-researched and well-written book, and it has been a pleasure to read. The author has collected evidence from a wealth of archives, in the UK and elsewhere, and the end notes on each chapter are thorough. The main conceit – identifying Macklenburgh Square as a place that attracted educated and unconventional women in the first half of the 20th century – is original in scope. However, it doesn't always work as well in each case. The first two chapters on Hilda Doolittle and Dorothy L. Sayers impart a strong sense of place, and the Square is pivotal in the unfolding, and often dramatic, lives of these women. Moreover, Wade has uncovered some very interesting links between the two women, who never met each other (Sayers took over Doolitle's room, and they both knew the writer John Cournos).
Where the concept falls down is with the book's remaining subjects: Jane Harrison, Eileen Power and Virginia Woolf. In Harrison's case, one gets the sense that her most interesting work was already behind her by the time she arrived in Bloomsbury to spend the last two years of her life. And although Power lived in Macklenburgh Square for many years whilst teaching at the LSE, the place appears to be a mere backdrop in her very busy life. As for Woolf, she arrived at the Square in order to escape the noise from building works in Tavistock Square, where she had lived for fifteen years, and it was not an altogether happy move. It would appear that she didn't spend all that much time there as she commuted regularly between London and East Sussex. Barely a year after moving in, the house was bombed in an air raid forcing the Woolfs to remain in East Sussex indefinitely.
Some additional comments: firstly, a bit more context regarding the interwar period and the very significant changes that it brought to women's lives and labour would have really helped underline further how unusual and unique these five women were. During WW1, women were pivotal in supporting the war effort by taking on the jobs of the men who enlisted. After the war, they were let down by the Government, the returning soldiers and the trade unions, all of whom were hostile at the prospect of female emancipation through labour, and supported a concerted campaign for them to return to the domestic sphere or to traditional female occupations, i.e. domestic service. Secondly, it is not emphasised enough that these five women were privileged in one way or another, and that having money and/or supportive partners and parents enabled to a large extent their lifestyle and outputs. And finally, their work was additionally supported by the work of female servants, housekeepers and cooks. Although the author does touch upon this subject, and acknowledges the irony entailed in such arrangements, there was scope for this to be explored a bit further.
Where the concept falls down is with the book's remaining subjects: Jane Harrison, Eileen Power and Virginia Woolf. In Harrison's case, one gets the sense that her most interesting work was already behind her by the time she arrived in Bloomsbury to spend the last two years of her life. And although Power lived in Macklenburgh Square for many years whilst teaching at the LSE, the place appears to be a mere backdrop in her very busy life. As for Woolf, she arrived at the Square in order to escape the noise from building works in Tavistock Square, where she had lived for fifteen years, and it was not an altogether happy move. It would appear that she didn't spend all that much time there as she commuted regularly between London and East Sussex. Barely a year after moving in, the house was bombed in an air raid forcing the Woolfs to remain in East Sussex indefinitely.
Some additional comments: firstly, a bit more context regarding the interwar period and the very significant changes that it brought to women's lives and labour would have really helped underline further how unusual and unique these five women were. During WW1, women were pivotal in supporting the war effort by taking on the jobs of the men who enlisted. After the war, they were let down by the Government, the returning soldiers and the trade unions, all of whom were hostile at the prospect of female emancipation through labour, and supported a concerted campaign for them to return to the domestic sphere or to traditional female occupations, i.e. domestic service. Secondly, it is not emphasised enough that these five women were privileged in one way or another, and that having money and/or supportive partners and parents enabled to a large extent their lifestyle and outputs. And finally, their work was additionally supported by the work of female servants, housekeepers and cooks. Although the author does touch upon this subject, and acknowledges the irony entailed in such arrangements, there was scope for this to be explored a bit further.