I am thrilled to announce that Virago are publishing a special 50th anniversary edition of this book – now considered a ‘classic’ – in September 2025, with a gorgeous and joyous cover by Eleanor Rose, a thoughtful and generous introduction from Alexandra Harris.
‘Fenwomen is a vital portrait of rural women’s lives’ Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley.
‘A fascinating insight into 20th century rural life.’ Laura Hackett, Sunday Times August 2025
‘[A] pathbreaking work of history.’ Pat Thane, History Today, September 2025
I am also delighted to post here some of Angela Phillips’ photos, used to illustrate the very first edition of Fenwomen in 1975, which capture daily life for women in the Cambridgeshire fens. Please scroll down the page to view them.
Mary Coe recalls summers spent gleaning in the fields, laudanum soothed babies strapped to their mothers’ backs. Ann Sharman, married and pregnant at seventeen, imagines another life outside the village. Eighty-six-year-old Sybil Hayhoe looks back with pride at her years in service, while the village postwoman is sharply aware of her unequal wages. Girls aspire to be housewives, hairdressers or nurses – except Fiona, who dreams of training horses. Told through the voices of ordinary women, Mary Chamberlain’s portrait of an isolated village in the Cambridgeshire Fens remains as vital and thought-provoking as on its ground breaking publication in 1975. A feminist answer to Ronald Blythe’s Akenfield, it vividly captures the rhythms, hopes and tensions of women’s lives in a working-class rural community, and offers a unique snapshot of an almost-vanished England.
Photo gallery:
All pictures ©Angela Phillips
Angela Phillips worked as a photographer in the 1970s, recording the lives of women and the activities of the burgeoning Women’s Liberation Movement. She published in Spare Rib magazine, Women’s Report and more mainstream publications. In later years she worked as a journalist and then media academic. She is also the author several books.
marychamberlainbooks 