Bee Wilson writes:

How had this Dixie Belle become the first woman ever to be voted into the House of Commons? It does seem extraordinary that Nancy – an American, and twice married – succeeded where so many others had failed. In his very readable if slightly too smitten biography, Fort is keen to contrast her pleasing appearance with that of the ‘hard-bitten’ suffragettes: unlike ‘the rugged, tough women who had suffered for their cause’, Nancy ‘was young and lovely, and not even English’. She also had the advantage of Waldorf’s colossal wealth and the fact that he preceded her as the Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton. In fact, she already had experience of doorstepping: ‘For 11 years, I helped my husband with his work in Plymouth. I found out the wrongs and he tried to right them.’

(LRB 20 December 2012)

Cape | Hardback 400 pp. |ISBN: 9780224090162