Sally Nicholls

Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2019, National Book Award, Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards and the YA Book Prize Through rallies and marches, in polite drawing rooms and freezing prison cells and the poverty-stricken slums of the East End, three courageous young women join the fight for the vote. Evelyn is seventeen, and though she is rich and clever, she may never be allowed to follow her older brother to university. Enraged that she is expected to marry her childhood sweetheart rather than be educated, she joins the Suffragettes, and vows to pay the ultimate price for women's freedom. May is fifteen, and already sworn to the cause, though she and her fellow Suffragists refuse violence. When she meets Nell, a girl who's grown up in hardship, she sees a kindred spirit. Together and in love, the two girls start to dream of a world where all kinds of women have their place. But the fight for freedom will challenge Evelyn, May and Nell more than they ever could believe. As war looms, just how much are they willing to sacrifice?

Things a Bright Girl Can Do

Shortlisted for the National Book Award, Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards and the YA Book Prize Through rallies and marches, in polite drawing rooms and freezing prison cells and the poverty-stricken slums of the East End, three courageous young women join the fight for the vote. Evelyn is seventeen, and though she is rich and clever, she may never be allowed to follow her older brother to university. Enraged that she is expected to marry her childhood sweetheart rather than be educated, she joins the Suffragettes, and vows to pay the ultimate price for women's freedom. May is fifteen, and already sworn to the cause, though she and her fellow Suffragists refuse violence. When she meets Nell, a girl who's grown up in hardship, she sees a kindred spirit. Together and in love, the two girls start to dream of a world where all kinds of women have their place. But the fight for freedom will challenge Evelyn, May and Nell more than they ever could believe. As war looms, just how much are they willing to sacrifice?

Georgina :)

Chourouk

** spoiler alert **
           i love how we could see the life of 3 different persons in one book and in one city. I love how the book teaches me so much about feminism and votes for woman. I was also very sad about how people actually lived in the great war and i especially liked it because on school we are learning about the great war. I loved how the characters had multiple character developments although i didn't quite liked everyone in that book like sadie in the beginning and nell was quite annoying in the beginning. But without that, was it a good book and i would recommend it.

It wasnt bad. A little boring. A little plain. 

It did romanticise the suffragette movement to a certain extent. 

Some of the subplots we’re cute. 

I probably won’t read this again


Through rallies and marches, in polite drawing rooms and freezing prison cells and the poverty-stricken slums of the East End, three courageous young women join the fight for the vote. Evelyn is seventeen, and though she is rich and clever, she may never be allowed to follow her older brother to university. Enraged that she is expected to marry her childhood sweetheart rather than be educated, she joins the Suffragettes, and vows to pay the ultimate price for women's freedom. May is fifteen, and already sworn to the cause, though she and her fellow Suffragists refuse violence. When she meets Nell, a girl who's grown up in hardship, she sees a kindred spirit. Together and in love, the two girls start to dream of a world where all kinds of women have their place. But the fight for freedom will challenge Evelyn, May and Nell more than they ever could believe. As war looms, just how much are they willing to sacrifice?

léna 

Lisa Beasley

I found this book really interesting. It is definitely outside my comfort zone of genres but it's a period of time I am interested in and it is definitely thought provoking. I am always surprised when I'm reminded just how recently things have changed and even now it isn't perfect but it's definitely better.

Kate

3.5* Things A Bright Girl Can Do had a cast of characters and writing style I instantly warmed to. I loved that so many different aspects of life during this time were explored through three characters, who experiences were so different. I especially loved the f/f relationship and the exploration of PTSD and feminism. However, I just wanted a little bit more from it. I wanted to know about what it was like to be a young suffragette, what it was like for people of different classes and sexualities and genders. It also seemingly totally forgot about the WOC in the suffragettes and the added struggles they had to face. It featured an f/f relationship between two of the main characters (although one of whom read as possibly questioning their gender at times?) which I thought was great but I just wanted more. I almost wish this had been two different books, one following Evelyn and another following May and Nell. With all the being said, this was definitely an enjoyable read and an interesting one, I just wanted a little more depth as I always love learning more about this time period. 

TW: 
• homophobic language and undertones. although this was in keeping with the time period and not in a malicious way but in a way that most definitely comes across as internalised homophobia, I can definitely see it being hard and potentially triggering to read.
• PTSD & Flashbacks

Things a Bright Girl Can Do

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