October 7th, Redhills, Durham, 2pm -3.30pm I talked about the history of Holloway Prison at the Durham Book Festival as part of a panel discussing radical women, along with Dr Fern Riddell. The event began with a performance by Sarah Sayeed – Song for Sophia – inspired by Victorian suffragette Princess Sophia Singh. The event… Continue reading
In 1927, Mercedes Gleitze became the first British woman to swim the English Channel. Now her daughter Doloranda Pember has written the first biography of this incredible swimmer. I first met Doloranda when I interviewed her for Downstream, and can’t wait to read In the Wake of Mercedes Gleitze, published by The History Press on… Continue reading
Bad Girls will be published in paperback on February 21st, 2019, with a brand new cover! Continue reading
Daisy Belle was officially launched at the Mixed Pond on Hampstead Heath on Saturday. The heavens smiled on us and the weather was perfect, while the water was suitably chilly…. Hampstead Heath Leisure & Events Manager Paul Maskell gets the evening started Channel swimmer Frank Chalmers sang a tribute to Daisy Belle And I wore… Continue reading
This month’s Outdoor Swimmer Magazine features Daisy Belle and a chat with Ella Foote about the women and ponds that inspired the novel. ‘Fans of the film The Greatest Showman may enjoy the read as there are similarities: the desire for success, money and the drive to perform. Daisy Belle has the passion, greed and… Continue reading
The Toronto Star, Canada’s largest online news site, has chosen Bad Girls as one of five new books that ‘upend traditional views about women’. ‘The bad girls of the title are women who were jailed for drunkenness, prostitution, being suffragettes, murder, theft, performing abortions – indeed the full monty of activities that society frowns on…This… Continue reading
I joined the team at the Standard Issue podcast to discuss ‘The real women of Holloway Prison.’ Listen here Continue reading
I joined the Portobello Book Blog to answer questions about Daisy Belle and the writing life and Laura Morningstar for a Meet the Author Q&A Continue reading
The #RandomThingsTours has resulted in some wonderful reviews for Daisy Belle: ‘I raced through the book almost as fast as Daisy propels herself through the water. I was totally mesmerized…..Beautifully written, the world of Victorian sportsmanship comes alive so that it’s almost as if you were actually doggy-paddling alongside as Daisy Belle goes swimming in… Continue reading
Daisy Belle was inspired by two forgotten Victorian champions – Agnes Beckwith and Annie Luker. Here’s a guest post on Novel Deelights. Continue reading
Daisy Belle is a ‘must read’ for September on Bookchoice. It is one of eight featured books, offered as both an e-book and audio book. So now you can listen to Daisy Belle and get swept away in her swimming story… Continue reading
I joined journalist Ella Foote this week for a ‘swimterview’ at the Mixed Pond on Hampstead Heath in London, the setting for Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World. Ella writes for the brilliant Outdoor Swimmer Magazine and the idea was to chat while swimming. Unfortunately I’ve recently ripped the nail off my big toe… Continue reading
Daisy Belle began serialisation on The Pigeonhole this week and it has been a surreal experience being able to read people’s thoughts and comments as they are in the very process of reading the book! It’s exciting seeing which parts of the novel get the most reactions, and to answer readers’ questions as we go… Continue reading
Reviews are coming in on the Daisy Belle blog tour, organised by Anne Cater of RandomThingsTours. ‘Daisy is such an endearing and engaging character, from her first forays into the water aged just four – right through to her adult life and the trials and tribulations of being a woman born to succeed in a… Continue reading
‘Black women were disproportionately jailed and mistreated in London’s infamous Holloway Prison’ – openDemocracy, the independent global media platform, has run an extract from Bad Girls, taken from a chapter on racism within the prison service. The extract can be read here. Continue reading
The Camden New Journal ran a feature on the inspiration behind Daisy Belle, ‘a woman born into a world that believed in female inferiority who knew she must negotiate the men who wanted to exploit her talent.’ ‘Daisy Belle highlights the histories and achievements of Victorian athletic lady-swimmers..and reflects upon the history of swimming in… Continue reading
The Parliament Hill Lido held its 80th birthday celebrations on the evening of August 25th, with swimming, music, food, lido cocktails, and revelers dressed in 1930s costumes. There were also books on sale – Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World and the wonderful 21 Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood… Continue reading
‘In Bad Girls Caitlin Davies expertly tells the story of Holloway Prison, largely through its prisoners…The journey on which Davies takes us is always thoughtful, sometimes witty, and never judgemental. (She also) looks at the staffing of Holloway, its governors, the prison routines, the prison’s failings, prison life, racism and life after the nick… Continue reading
The Parliament Hill Lido turns 80 years old on August 20th, and birthday celebrations will be held on the evening of Saturday August 25th. For swimmers who love to read, two brilliant books will be on sale – Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World and 21 Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of… Continue reading
August 8th Yesterday I met the fantastic team from the Standard Issue podcast, editor Mickey Noonan and deputy editor Hannah Dunleavy. The podcast was founded by comedian Sarah Millican, to provide a mix of news, stories and entertainment and not to ‘pander to society’s narrow definition of what women are interested in’. We met at… Continue reading
Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World will be offered to readers via The Pigeonhole next month. Subscribing to The Pigeonhole is free, readers choose the book they want to read and they then receive 10 daily installments or ‘staves’. There are a limited number of slots available, but it’s easy to sign up. Readers… Continue reading
Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World will be on a blog tour in August. The tour will include reviews, guest posts, Q&As and exclusive extracts. Continue reading
‘A biography of a prison over its lifetime, adding to the few single study accounts that we have of British penal institutions. Davies…focuses unapologetically on the inmates’ stories, and gives us an insight into the processes of her research, recounting visits to the prison, crime scenes, and burial places. All this makes Bad Girls an… Continue reading
July 18th The first copies of Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World arrived today, the culmination of a crowdfunding campaign with Unbound that began in June 2017. To hold these books in my hands makes it real at last! Thank you to the hundreds of people who pledged for and supported the book. Continue reading
Peter Barratt, great grandson of suffragette Alice Hawkins, presents the story of his fearless forebear at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe on August 13-17th. Alice was a shoe machinist in Leicester when she was imprisoned at Holloway in 1907 and on the day of her release 200 people were waiting to welcome her. Some of her… Continue reading
July 13th Last night Islington Museum launched its exhibition on Holloway Prison, with a focus on ‘the voices which remain unknown and unrecorded’. The exhibition includes oral recordings from former prisoners and staff – many of whom feature in Bad Girls – as well as archive documents and objects such as a prison cell door… Continue reading
August 7th Finsbury Library, London ECIV, 6.30pm I gave an illustrated talk on the history of Holloway Prison and the experiences of the suffragettes. The free talk took place at Finsbury Library, as part of Islington Museum’s brilliant Echoes of Holloway Project. Continue reading
Manchester Metropolitan University have released videos of their Sports and Leisure Symposium held on the Cheshire campus in February 2016, including my talk on ‘Pulverising Records: Forgotten Women Champions and the Victorian Art of Swimming the Thames.’ The videos can be found on Playing Pasts, the online magazine for Sports and Leisure History. Watch the… Continue reading
As from this autumn, students at Endicott College in the USA will be studying Bad Girls as part of their Popular Culture course. The course is taught by Professor Nancy Lee-Jones and I’m thrilled that she has chosen to teach the book. The college, situated near Boston, was founded in 1939 to ‘educate women for… Continue reading
The new books magazine Strong Words has run an interview on the background to Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World. Questions covered a passion for swimming and what inspired my other swimming books. ‘(She) has the uncanny knack of discovering fascinating stories that have often, up until she finds them, been somewhat overlooked.’ … Continue reading