Historical Women

Take a tour of the past and uncover stories of the women whose lives and achievements have shaped our modern world. In Life Lessons from Historical Women, Eleanor Morton celebrates the ordinary women whose decisions and accomplishments in their everyday lives resonate with us today. Whether it's what we can learn from the first woman to summit Everest or the trailblazing ladies who confirm that pockets have always been must-have in women's clothing, Eleanor writes with humour and a sincere respect for our history, and imparts valuable lessons for the modern female.

Cam Langley, a sharp-witted codebreaker at Bletchley Park, dresses like a man and makes no secret of who she is. Gloria Edwards, eager to escape her domineering father, joins the war effort and is quickly drawn into Cam's orbit.

Ellen Lark is on the verge of marriage when she and her fiancé receive an unexpected visit from Alexander Graham Bell. While her fiancé is eager to make a potentially lucrative acquaintance, Ellen knows what Bell really wants from her. Ellen is deaf, and for a time was Bell's student in a technique called Visible Speech. As he instructed her in speaking, Bell also confided in her about his dream of producing a device which would transmit the human voice along a wire: the telephone.

Maud Heaston has been in love with Beatrice Williams since they first met in 1939. They’ve been through hell and back; family, careers, and secrets have threatened to tear them apart, but their love has endured it all. Until now. Old age and illness have forced them into separate nursing homes and the family Maud trusted to take care of them are only out for themselves.

Beryl Jenkinson is a young dreamer determined to break free. Though bound to her family’s garage, her heart dreams of taking flight with Attagirls, the brave women piloting planes across the nation to play a vital role in the war effort. Odette de Lavigne embodies the allure of a World War Two pin-up girl: glamorous, seductive, and a masterful pilot. But beneath her carefree demeanor lies a poignant secret.

Lenore von Erickson, daughter of a wealthy baron, wants nothing more than to spend time at the docks along the sea. Her father, however, has other plans and intends to marry her off as quickly as possible in a business arrangement that, Lenore suspects, has little to do with her own happiness. When her intended husband gives her a magical coin and tells her she can escape this life, she realizes she has little to lose.

The work of a spy-woman is very different from that of a man. First, on the one hand it is easier, because you are less likely to be suspected of intelligence activities. On the other hand, it was harder for female spies, because they were required to gain the trust of high-ranking officials or people of power, by using their beauty, skills of seduction, and by attempting to make the person fall in love with them, so that they revealed their secrets. It could destroy destinies, but it was extremely useful for states and governments.

Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in The Netherlands during the late 19th century to a wealthy family. As she was growing up, her father went bankrupt. During her prime as a teenager, she seduced the headmaster and discovered the power of her sexuality to bewitch men. As a young woman, she responded to an ad by a Dutch army officer and was married to him shortly after. When her marriage failed, she returned to The Netherlands and from there went to Paris and became a cultural icon and an escort for the wealthiest and most influential of men.

What happens when a serial seductress meets the only man who can claim her heart? With the freedom her status as a lady of immense wealth and aristocratic blood gives her, Alicia Laurence can do anything her heart desires, including seducing her way around the world. However, she is not only a seductress but also a woman of ambition who insists on using her skills for the benefit of her community.

A historical novel about the relationship between Sigmund Freud and the five most important women in his life.