This Slavery

When the Lancashire cotton-mill that employs them burns to the ground, sisters Rachel and Hester Martin are each forced to find their own way to survive in the harsh realities of pre-war industrial Britain. The contrasting paths they take in their quest for domestic autonomy form a subtly strident allegory of the all but insurmountable barriers of class and gender that then enslaved half the population. Part compelling narrative epic, part fiery Marxist-feminist polemic, this faithful, sumptuous, and revelatory adaptation by the award-winning Rickard Sisters reclaims a lost classic by holding it up as a mirror to our own hard times, and as a gloriously flaming beacon to future communities to offer strength, hope, and dignity.

Author Biography

Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (1886–1962), a writer, feminist and activist from Lancashire, was the first working-class woman to have a novel published in Britain. She had at least ten novels published and wrote ‘This Slavery’ in 1925. The Rickard Sisters are graphic novelists from the same Lancashire cotton-country as Ethel Holdsworth, and have collaborated on adapting a series of early 20th-century political novels in their own lavish trademark style including ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ and ‘No Surrender’. Scarlett is the artist and Sophie is the writer, and despite living 200 miles apart, they work closely together to perfect the development of these rich, vibrant, and inspirational books.