Archives and Research

Where are the Women?

A Guide to an Imagined Scotland

Front cover of Where are the Women?

Can you imagine a different Scotland, a Scotland where women are commemorated in statues and streets and buildings – even in the hills and valleys? 

This is a guidebook to that alternative nation, where the cave on Staffa is named after Malvina rather than Fingal, and Arthur's Seat isn't Arthur's, it belongs to St Triduana. You arrive into Dundee at Slessor Station and the Victorian monument on Stirling's Abbey Hill interprets national identity through the women who ran hospitals during the First World War. The West Highland Way ends at Fort Mary. The Old Lady of Hoy is a prominent Orkney landmark. And the plinths in central Glasgow proudly display statues of suffragettes. 

In this guide fictional streets, buildings, statues and monuments are dedicated to real women, telling their often unknown stories.

  • Audiences:

    Members, Visitors, Conservation and Heritage Enthusiasts
  • Date Published:

    01 May 2019
  • Publisher:

    Historic Environment Scotland
  • Publication Types:

    Book (General)
  • Author(s):

    Sara Sheridan

    named as one of the Saltire Society’s most influential Scottish women, past and present, is known for the Mirabelle Bevan mysteries, a series of historical novels based on Georgian and Victorian explorers, and has written non-fiction on the early days of Queen Victoria’s marriage and the historical background to Jane Austen’s novel Sanditon. With a fascination for uncovering forgotten women in history, she is an active campaigner, a feminist and co-founder of radical perfume brand REEK.
  • Format(s):

    Paperback
    £9.99
    ISBN: 9781849173087
    448pp, 198x129mm
    Purchase
  • Language:

    English
  • Subjects:

    History, Scotland, Feminism

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