She Dared to Speak: Connie Birchfield's Story

Maureen Birchfield

This is the story of a spirited and courageous woman who was driven by a concern for the welfare of ordinary people. Written by her daughter, it has a liveliness and immediacy which would be difficult for an outsider to achieve. Connie Birchfield grew up in Lancashire – working in a cotton mill from the age of thirteen – and emigrated to New Zealand in the 1920s. She became involved in unions and the Labour Party as a hotel worker, and joined the Communist Party as an unemployed worker in the 1930s. In many ways she was a woman ahead of her time – a fine street orator, a candidate in several municipal and general elections, an activist in the working women's movement – much of this while bringing up a family with a husband away at war. Her local community benefited from her organising ability and she always spoke her mind – so much so that she was expelled from the Communist Party in 1957.

paperback, 216 pp, ISBN 1 877 13353 1, $34.95