Social Injustice

Trouble For The Boat Girl by Lizzie Lane is a marvellous novel looking at the social history of women and the poor. It is set in 1925.

The twenties were a turbulent time. World War I was over but England was hardly a land fit for heroes. The tale follows the boat people whose existence was threatened by the railways. The unions were just emerging and were not popular with the bosses. Work was precarious and poverty was rife. We witness how hard it is to change the attitudes from within. It is laws that are needed in order to make a difference.

We follow two characters from the upper classes who try to bring order and change for the impoverished people. We wonder, do they both really have philanthropy at heart? Or is it just a way to rebel against their family?

Children of the boat people receive very little in the way of education as they are never in one place for that long. We see a female character who wishes to change that. Teaching was seen as a female vocation and there was a choice to be made – teach? Or marry? You could not do both.