Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front

Elsie and Mairi Go to War

The extraordinary and moving story of two women whose courage and charisma made them the most famous women in the First World War.

A compelling story of famous but forgotten heroines: two exceptional Edwardian ladies in the front line mud and mayhem of World War I

Diane Atkinson has uncovered the lives of two extraordinary women who brought medical comfort and relief to the wounded of World War I. Her book is as absorbing as it is thorough, as entertaining as it is warm-hearted. A terrific story

The true story of best friends Elsie Knocker and Mairi Chisholm who, when the First World War broke out, set up a first aid post on the Western Front. Their courage frequently made the headlines in Britain and both were awarded medals for their bravery. This biography is a fitting tribute to their role on the frontline

A terrific, true story, brought vividly to life

Diane Atkinson was born in the North-East and educated in Cornwall and London, where she completed a PhD on the politics of women's sweated labour. At the Museum of London she worked as a lecturer and curator specializing in women's history. She has an MA from the University of East Anglia in Life-writing. She is the author of Suffragettes in Pictures, Funny Girls: Cartooning for Equality and Love and Dirt: The Marriage of Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick, which was published in 2003.

When they met at a motorcycle club in 1912, Elsie Knocker was a thirty year-old motorcycling divorcee dressed in bottle-green Dunhill leathers, and Mairi Chisholm was a brilliant eighteen-year old mechanic, living at home and borrowing tools from her brother. Little did they know, theirs was to become one of the most extraordinary stories of the First World War. 
 
In 1914, they roared off to London 'to do their bit', and within a month they were in the thick of things in Belgium driving ambulances to distant military hospitals. Frustrated by the number of men dying of shock in the back of their vehicles, they set up their own first-aid post on the front line in the village of Pervyse, near Ypres, risking their lives working under sniper fire and heavy bombardment for months at a time. 
 
As news of their courage and expertise spread, the 'Angels of Pervyse' became celebrities, visited by journalists and photographers as well as royals and VIPs. Glamorous and influential, they were having the time of their lives, and for four years, Elsie and Mairi and stayed in Pervyse until they were nearly killed by arsenic gas in the spring of 1918. But returning home and adjusting to peacetime life was to prove even more challenging than the war itself.

Diane Atkinson

The liberating life story of the first feminist legislator

Diane Atkinson has written the definitive account of one of the most important trials of the nineteenth century - that of Caroline Norton's fight to keep her children. The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton is an important and necessary book. It also happens to be beautifully written and extremely entertaining. Diane Atkinson has resurrected a nineteenth century heroine in the twentieth-first century.

Caroline Norton took her fight to see her children to the highest court in the land and changed the lot of mothers for ever. Diane Atkinson tells her story with a clarity and wit that makes it a pleasure to read.

Expertly researched and finely written... Mrs Norton’s journey from abused wife to passionate reformer is as moving as it is fascinating, and Atkinson’s richly detailed work does her subject the justice she deserves.

Diane Atkinson’s captivating fifth book...pacy book that’s as bright and fascinating as its heroine.

Thrillingly readable biography 
(5 Stars)

Atkinson’s meticulous research shines when she describes the impossible position of women like Caroline.

It is a brave book, written with verve and veracity.

Poignant and inspirational this is the well-crafted story of a fascinating heroine and her fight to save her family.

Caroline Norton, born in 1808, was a society beauty, poet and pamphleteer. Her good looks and wit attracted many male admirers, first her husband, the Honourable George Norton, and then the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. 
 
After years of simmering jealousy, George Norton accused Caroline and the Prime Minister of a ‘criminal conversation’ (adultery) resulting in a trial referred to as ‘the scandal of the century’. 
 
Cut off and bankrupted by George Norton, she went on to become one of the most important figures in changing the law for wives and mothers.

Diane Atkinson

Praise for The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton

The liberating life story of the first feminist legislator

Diane Atkinson has written the definitive account of one of the most important trials of the nineteenth century - that of Caroline Norton's fight to keep her children. The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton ...

Caroline Norton took her fight to see her children to the highest court in the land and changed the lot of mothers for ever. Diane Atkinson tells her story with a clarity and wit that makes it a pleasure to read.

The liberating life story of the first feminist legislator

Diane Atkinson has written the definitive account of one of the most important trials of the nineteenth century - that of Caroline Norton's fight to keep her children. The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton ...

Caroline Norton took her fight to see her children to the highest court in the land and changed the lot of mothers for ever. Diane Atkinson tells her story with a clarity and wit that makes it a pleasure to read.

The liberating life story of the first feminist legislator

Diane Atkinson has written the definitive account of one of the most important trials of the nineteenth century - that of Caroline Norton's fight to keep her children. The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton ...

Caroline Norton took her fight to see her children to the highest court in the land and changed the lot of mothers for ever. Diane Atkinson tells her story with a clarity and wit that makes it a pleasure to read.

Books by Diane Atkinson

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter