Anna Freeman

I hadn't anticipated that the 18th-century would feel so alive and present in a novel about female boxers, but this book manages something like magic in creating a story that is both unlikely while also being gritty and real. Ruth is raised in a brothel and starts to box as a child, while Charlotte is brought up in comfort and later discovering boxing as part of a self-awakening. Both women are victimized by men who seek to use the women for their own gain, and Ruth and Charlotte must discover ways to survive and resist. Overall, an excellent book and one that is very rooted in history.… (mehr)