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No Surrender

Words by Sophie Rickard

Art by Scarlett Rickard

Paperback, 368 pp, $23.99

Constance Maud was at the heart of the British campaign for women’s votes. Her novel No Surrender was published at the height of that struggle and used as a persuasive tool by suffragists. Hailed by Emily Wilding-Davison as “a book which breathes the very spirit of our Women’s Movement”, the fast-paced story interweaves the lives of women from all classes working together to bring about change. Our hero Jenny is a small but fierce Lancashire textile mill worker who puts principle before everything.

No Surrender is sometimes funny, sometimes violent, but always exciting and authentic. It is highly regarded as an important document of the arguments for and against extending votes to women, for its witty storytelling and for an unflinching depiction of the rapid escalation of violence encountered by the women involved.

In this faithful graphic adaptation, creators Scarlett and Sophie Rickard craft a compelling fiction that paints a comprehensive picture of social, political, economic and cultural life in early 20th-century Britain that is still acutely relevant today. The graphic format is the embodiment of the suffrage rally-cry of “Deeds not Words” and this book is the perfect sister-volume to their stunning adaptation of the socialist classic The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.


Sophie Rickard


Sophie Rickard is a writer and child counsellor. She writes graphic novels with her sister Scarlett.

Scarlett Rickard


Scarlett Rickard is a graphic artist, illustrator, drummer and junk collector. She has been drawing since she was very small and works closely with her sister Sophie on graphic novels.

Reviews

"Powerful, enraging, engaging and even occasionally funny, this never-more-timely tale of the force of the disenfranchised with their backs to the wall and ready to fight is supremely readable and should be compulsory viewing for all"
— Comics Review
"The Rickard sisters have taken an important social realist novel about the battle of votes for women written in 1911 and breathed new life into it for a new, younger readership in the twenty first century."
— Workers' Liberty
"This graphic update of No Surrender brings the whole story back to life. The result is stunning."
— Morning Star