''Clash'' is a 1929

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by the English

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Ellen Wilkinson Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Secretary of State for Education, Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. Earlier in her care ...

. It focuses on the clash between

career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

and

personal relationship An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves emotional or physical closeness between people and may include sexual intimacy and feelings of romance or love. Intimate relationships are interdependent, and the member ...

s, against the backdrop of the 1926 general strike. Beers, L. (2011), Feminism and Sexuality in Ellen Wilkinson's Fiction, ''

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Ox ...

'', Vol. 64 No. 2, 2011, 248–262 It was Wilkinson's first novel. It was republished by Trent Editions with a new introduction by Ian Haywood and Maroula Joannou in 1998. and is still in print. Ellen Wilkinson, the first woman Labour MP, is best remembered for leading a march of the unemployed from her constituency in Jarrow to London in 1936. Her first novel Clash is set a decade earlier, during the General Strike when Wilkinson was sent as an accredited representative of the TUC to tour the country drumming up support of the strikers. The novel is a work of romantic fiction. It is semi autobiographical and book bears all the hall marks of her first-hand experience of the strike including descriptions of the time she spent with the women in the Yorkshire coal fields during the lock-out of 1926 which followed the strike.

References

1929 British novels 1929 debut novels British romance novels Proletarian literature Contemporary romance novels George G. Harrap and Co. books {{1920s-romance-novel-stub