Fascinating Strong Matriarchs
The Stepney Doorstep Society by Kate Thompson is a powerful account of the lives of the matriarchs living in the East End of London. It is mainly set during World War II, with a dip into both the thirties and the post war years.
It was the women of the East End that ran the show. They were not necessarily large in stature but they were strong personalities. They had to be. They lived through the Depression of the 1920’s and 1930’s and also World War II. “I just had to get on with things. I wasn’t brave… I just had no choice.” They put on their big-girl pants and tackled life head on.
The women looked out for each other and for each- others’ children. It was proper community living as they were in and out of each-others houses too. They were “rich in love, poor in the purse.”
With World War II came opportunities for women. They got out of the home and into the factories, only to be relegated to the home again when the men returned from war. “The war brought out the strength in women.”
We see that “individually these women were tough. Together, they were terrifying.” When there was a wrong, these women stood up for what was right. They marched against Oswald Moseley’s Blackshirts in the 1930’s.
We learn that “infant mortality rates were… high and there was a heartbreaking saying offered up to a mother when a new baby arrived: ‘Has it come to stay?’” Within the community women acted as midwives, helping others birth babies.
Within the community there were also women who helped other women with back street abortions – not necessarily because they were unmarried, but because there were women with seven, eight or more children who just could not afford to feed any more mouths. It was incredibly sad.
Hitler’s Luftwaffe bombed the East End relentlessly from September 1940 to May 1941. He intended to break the spirit of Britain and bring her to her knees – but Hitler hadn’t met the matriarchs of the East End! “The Blitz was Hitler’s attempt to bring Britain to heel… But he under-estimated the British character – and particularly… our matriarchs.” “Hitler’s attempt to bring Britain to her knees had failed.”
It was during an air raid in 1943 that the terrible Bethnal Green tube disaster happened. There were 173 people who died – 84 women, 27 men and 62 children. This was hushed up for fear of destroying morale. It was the tough women of the East End who were tasked with laying out the dead.
After the war would come the slum clearance. This did what Hitler failed to do – and broke apart communities because instead of living in close proximity to each other, the women were isolated in high rise flats. It was a wicked shame.
Kate Thompson interviewed many women for her book. She writes their stories which come alive for the reader. We feel as if we ‘know’ these brave women.
The Stepney Doorstep Society is a social commentary of the lives of the matriarchs at the time. It was a pure pleasure to get to know these women.
JULIA WILSON
