As a young writer fascinated by the lives of career women in 1950s Britain, I’ve always been drawn to stories of daughters who dared to want more than their fathers permitted. In my debut novel, “Discipline and Ambition,” I explored life as a typist in a strict company in 1950. In this book, I have extended that thought and explored how Eleanor Hall navigates middle-class North London, where reputation and discipline rule every household, none more so than her own.
One week before her wedding, Eleanor stands at the crossroads between duty and desire. Her father, the respected Dr. Hall, has shaped her life through stern Victorian discipline and regular spanking, the same methods her soon-to-be husband Thomas intends to continue. But beneath her perfectly pressed skirts and well-mannered exterior beats the heart of a would-be journalist, burning with ambition.
Drawing inspiration from the pioneering women journalists who fought their way into Fleet Street, I wanted to explore the complex bonds between fathers and daughters in an era when discipline and spanking were a form of love and obedience was a daughter’s duty. This is a story about finding your voice when everyone commands you to be silent and discovering that sometimes the greatest act of love is letting someone become who they truly are.
Content Warning: Contains themes of family inequality, social oppression, spanking, and complex power dynamics authentic to the 1950s era.
Jade Dexter
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