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This Slavery

By Sophie Rickard and Ethel Carnie Holdsworth
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Brief Description
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... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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Adapted from a novel by the radical feminist poet and author Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, this compelling, multi-layered, and sumptuously designed dramatic romance plays out against the starkly observed realities of what it was to grow up female in pre-war industrial Britain.

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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.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781914224355

Publisher: SelfMadeHero

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 11 September 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: SelfMadeHero

Illustration: Full Colour Illustrations

Contributors:

  • Illustrated by Scarlett Rickard

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 170.0mm

Height: 240.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 360

Collections

Adult Graphic Novels Ethel Carnie Holdsworth Fiction Graphic Novels Sophie Rickard

About the Author

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.

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