This hard hitting but humorous novel will make you smile and then break your heart. Its foundation in truth, makes it more compelling a read and offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary women facing extraordinary hardship. Set against the backdrop of the pensions scandal, which unfairly impacted millions of 1950s-born women In the UK. The story delves into themes of resilience, friendship, sacrifice, and the power of collective action. While the characters fight for justice in their specific struggle, the narrative resonates with broader themes of fighting against injustice and standing up for what's right, particularly in achieving real equality for women. There will be no true equality until we learn not to use the concept against each other in cheap shots against to further an agenda...
I started this book in 2021 and then stopped, concerned that I might be trivialising what has been the devastation of many hundreds of thousands of lives out of 3.8 million women affected, and so I stopped. Three years on I have concluded that the only way we can get the truth out there and into the public awareness is by being forced to fictionalise it. So please be aware that this is primarily a work of fiction. But...I have used anecdotal evidence of true circumstances, with the occasional bout of fictitious humour for my book and I have modelled my characters and situations on a combination of several of the characters of the women that I have been privileged to have encountered along my campaigning for justice, and whom I have great admiration for. I have not included real names as there are too many to acknowledge but you know who you are and may recognise elements of yourself... I would hate to miss anyone, as every contribution has been a personal and often painful fight for the truth and justice. The 1950's women demonstrate the grit that British women were renowned for in earlier times. We fight against a hugely financed opponent in a misogynistic scandal that exceeds any other in the previous 100 years. An injustice that has been smothered down by a government that would not admit its complicity in our suffering. Their deliberate targeting of a ten-year age group of 1950s women knowing that, by keeping them un-informed and an isolated 'Timebound' target, they would get away with the biggest cash grab of our pensions in history. What they overlooked was that they had chosen a generation with true fighting spirit. This is just a small part of the story of 3.8 million women who had up to 6 years of their pension taken, many with no notice. This is the story of their suffering, but mostly of their spirit, their strength and sisterhood. They fight for themselves, each other, their daughters and their life partners and families. Make no mistake, this type of reckless playing with people's lives by a government, using our retirement funds like a Monopoly money, affects us all.
