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If you're just tuning in, this is my latest installment in posts on The Call by Edith Ayrton Zangwill (goodreads, kobo). Today I'm going to talk about how it fits into a subgenre called "suffragette romance", which I have just invented based on two British books from the early 20th century. But please tell me if you know of others!
The basic idea of suffragette romance is that there is a central love triangle between the protagonist, her male love interest, and the women's suffrage movement. These books adhere to the conventions of the romance genre inasmuch as our protagonist always ends up with the boy, which is of course a bit disappointing as he can't possiably be as romantic as women's suffrage.
The other suffragette romance I know is Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells, which I was curious about at first because its protagonist was supposedly modeled on Dusa McDuff's grandmother and one of H. G. Wells's many girlfriends, though Amber Reeves is actually a much more interesting person than her fictional counterpart. Ann Veronica is described as a "scientifically minded" young woman, but I was disappointed to find that she was really much more interested in her science professor (who is clearly an author self-insert). I did enjoy the book -- it was well-written and had some good set-pieces (in case you needed to learn why street harassment and date rape are bad). But its fundamental flaw is that it doesn't respect or give depth to its female characters other than Ann Veronica, who ends up describing herself as "the sort of suffragette who doesn't hate men", but really strikes me more as "the sort of suffragette who doesn't like women".
The Call as a book is definitely in conversation with Ann Veronica, though written 15 years later, in 1924, so after WWI and women got the vote. The writing style isn't as good, but it's much better in all the things that Ann Veronica falls down at. Ursula Winfield is an actual scientist who cares about science (though that's a relatively small part of the book), and doesn't end up having an affair with her male mentor (to the latter's dismay, but Vernon Smee is an awful person who deserves what he gets, more on him later). The book respects all of its female characters, even the ones who initially seem silly turn out to have hidden depths.
Also, Edith Ayrton Zangwill actually has some idea of how to plot a romance novel, probably because she'd read more of them than H. G. Wells. Ursula and her love interest are actually pretty cute together, even if I'm not convinced they're actually compatible long-term, and the ending is made of disability tropefail.
The basic idea of suffragette romance is that there is a central love triangle between the protagonist, her male love interest, and the women's suffrage movement. These books adhere to the conventions of the romance genre inasmuch as our protagonist always ends up with the boy, which is of course a bit disappointing as he can't possiably be as romantic as women's suffrage.
The other suffragette romance I know is Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells, which I was curious about at first because its protagonist was supposedly modeled on Dusa McDuff's grandmother and one of H. G. Wells's many girlfriends, though Amber Reeves is actually a much more interesting person than her fictional counterpart. Ann Veronica is described as a "scientifically minded" young woman, but I was disappointed to find that she was really much more interested in her science professor (who is clearly an author self-insert). I did enjoy the book -- it was well-written and had some good set-pieces (in case you needed to learn why street harassment and date rape are bad). But its fundamental flaw is that it doesn't respect or give depth to its female characters other than Ann Veronica, who ends up describing herself as "the sort of suffragette who doesn't hate men", but really strikes me more as "the sort of suffragette who doesn't like women".
The Call as a book is definitely in conversation with Ann Veronica, though written 15 years later, in 1924, so after WWI and women got the vote. The writing style isn't as good, but it's much better in all the things that Ann Veronica falls down at. Ursula Winfield is an actual scientist who cares about science (though that's a relatively small part of the book), and doesn't end up having an affair with her male mentor (to the latter's dismay, but Vernon Smee is an awful person who deserves what he gets, more on him later). The book respects all of its female characters, even the ones who initially seem silly turn out to have hidden depths.
Also, Edith Ayrton Zangwill actually has some idea of how to plot a romance novel, probably because she'd read more of them than H. G. Wells. Ursula and her love interest are actually pretty cute together, even if I'm not convinced they're actually compatible long-term, and the ending is made of disability tropefail.