Her Brilliant Career
Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties
Rachel Cooke
- An
- exuberant
- group
- biography—"a
- splendidly
- various
- collection
- of
- 'brief
- lives'
- written
- with
- both
- gusto
- and
- sensitivity"
- (The
- Guardian)—that
- follows
- ten
- women
- in
- 1950s
- Britain
- whose
- pioneering
- lives
- paved
- the
- way
- for
- feminism
- and
- laid
- the
- foundation
- of
- modern
- women's
- success.In
- Her
- Brilliant
- Career,
- Rachel
- Cooke
- goes
- back
- in
- time
- to
- offer
- an
- entertaining
- and
- iconoclastic
- look
- at
- ten
- women
- in
- the
- 1950s—pioneers
- whose
- professional
- careers
- and
- complicated
- private
- lives
- helped
- to
- create
- the
- opportunities
- available
- to
- today's
- women.
- These
- plucky
- and
- ambitious
- individuals—among
- them
- a
- film
- director,
- a
- cook,
- an
- architect,
- an
- editor,
- an
- archaeologist,
- a
- race
- car
- driver—left
- the
- house,
- discovered
- the
- bliss
- of
- work,
- and
- ushered
- in
- the
- era
- of
- the
- working
- woman.Daring
- and
- independent,
- these
- remarkable
- unsung
- heroines—whose
- obscurity
- makes
- their
- accomplishments
- all
- the
- more
- astonishing
- and
- relevant
- —loved
- passionately,
- challenged
- men's
- control,
- made
- their
- own
- mistakes,
- and
- took
- life
- on
- their
- own
- terms,
- breaking
- new
- ground
- and
- offering
- inspiration.
- Their
- individual
- portraits
- gradually
- form
- a
- landscape
- of
- 1950s
- culture,
- and
- women's
- unique—and
- rapidly
- evolving—role.Before
- there
- could
- be
- a
- Danica
- Patrick,
- there
- had
- to
- be
- a
- Sheila
- van
- Damm;
- before
- there
- was
- Barbara
- Walters,
- there
- was
- Nancy
- Spain;
- before
- there
- was
- Kathryn
- Bigelow,
- came
- Muriel
- Box.
- The
- pioneers
- of
- Her
- Brilliant
- Career
- forever
- changed
- the
- fabric
- of
- culture,
- society,
- and
- the
- work
- force.This
- is
- the
- Fifties,
- retold:
- vivid,
- surprising
- and,
- most
- of
- all,
- modern.Her
- Brilliant
- Career
- is
- illustrated
- with
- more
- than
- 80
- black-and-white photographs.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
