It was an Ercol sideboard that prompted the British journalist Rachel Cooke to write Her Brilliant Career, detailing the lives of 10 pioneering professional women in the 1950s. To her surprise, her eBay bargain, thought to be made in 1954, still seemed a remarkably modern-looking piece of furniture and it got her thinking about that "lost decade" tucked between the end of the Second World War and 1960s feminism.
Cooke decided to find out whether there was an alternative to the portrayal of that era’s women as “compliant, smiling” and “obsessed with baking”.
Initially it seemed she was on a wild goose chase but in time names began to crop up and, contrary to initial indications, there were numerous women eligible for inclusion.
These included a rally car driver, an architect and Britain’s first female QC. Cooke made the selection based on “those whose private lives were as modern as their professional lives”.
The women she chose are “like all human beings, flawed” and “their children sometimes had a hard time of it”. This makes the book, as Cooke intended, far more entertaining and readable than if she had written about the glossy superwoman type who is apparently able to juggle it all.
“This is a sly kind of feminism,” Cooke writes in her introduction. “Polemical books that tell us how we might close the pay gap … are all very fine and important but rarely that much fun to read. I prefer the idea of role models, inspirational figures who make you want to cheer.”
Each chapter can be read as a standalone piece but in reading the book cover to cover a picture builds not only of the women but of the times: the food and fashion, the books, arts and culture.
The book is fantastically well researched and even the footnotes contain delightful gems. This quote from the revue performer Iris Chapple is a case in point: “We felt powerful; we felt women could do anything they wanted. We travelled, we made loads of money and we blew it, we met interesting people.”
Certainly makes me want to cheer.
lgutcher@thenational.ae
Federer's 19 grand slam titles
Australian Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Marat Safin; 2006 bt Marcos Baghdatis; 2007 bt Fernando Gonzalez; 2010 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Rafael Nadal
French Open (1 title) - 2009 bt Robin Soderling
Wimbledon (8 titles) - 2003 bt Mark Philippoussis; 2004 bt Andy Roddick; 2005 bt Andy Roddick; 2006 bt Rafael Nadal; 2007 bt Rafael Nadal; 2009 bt Andy Roddick; 2012 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Marin Cilic
US Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Lleyton Hewitt; 2005 bt Andre Agassi; 2006 bt Andy Roddick; 2007 bt Novak Djokovic; 2008 bt Andy Murray
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
Infobox
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August
Results
UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets
Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets
Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets
Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs
Monday fixtures
UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
