Queens of Bohemia: And Other Miss-Fits

Our story begins in 1920s London, at a time when women’s rights were surging after the long battle for suffrage and nightclubs emerged as spaces where single women could socialise unchaperoned. This was the age of the dance craze and the gender-bending ‘Flapper’, who inspired the creation of the Gargoyle club, a nocturnal hunting ground for Femmes Fatales. Meanwhile, London’s Bohemia was ruled by the ‘Queen of Clubs’, Kate Meyrick; the taboo-breaking ‘Tiger Woman’, Betty May; the original ‘Chelsea Girl’, Viva King; the artist, Nina Hamnett; the ‘Euston Road Venus’, Sonia Orwell; and Isabel Rawsthorne, artist, spy, pornographer, model and muse … to name but a few. Using previously unpublished memoirs and interviews, Queens of Bohemia creates a soundscape of voices that gives the reader a taste of their world, so exotic and yet often wracked with despair. It offers a unique insight into a generation of women for whom ideals of duty and self-sacrifice had been debunked by the horrors of war and whose morality resided in being true to one’s self, as they took their struggle for freedom into the wider world and learned to value their individuality along the way.

Table of Contents:
Cover Title Copyright Contents Foreword Introduction Act I: Queendom Come 1 Fitzrovian Femmes 2 Femmes Fatales 3 Sladies 4 Viva la Vie Bohème 5 Let’s Blitz Bohemia 6 The Lost Girls 7 Café Society Act II: Bohemia Redux 8 Ripping Yarns 9 The Gluepot Gang 10 Sisterhood of Sin 11 The Coach & Divorces 12 Pond Life 13 Acid Queens 14 Lost Horizon Act III: Death Becomes Thee 15 The Monster Club 16 Get Smart 17 Dangerous Muse 18 Queen of Heaven 19 From Beijing to Bohemia 20 Absolute Hell 21 Quashed Queens 22 Queen and Country Epilogue Acknowledgements Credits Biography of Contributors Notes Bibliography

About the Author :
Darren Coffield was born in London in 1969. He studied at Goldsmiths College, Camberwell School of Art, and the Slade School of Art in London, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Art in 1993. He has exhibited widely in the company of many leading artists, including Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Patrick Caulfield and Gilbert and George. In 2014, Darren Coffield was specially selected by the jurors of 100 Painters of Tomorrow as an artist who has made a significant contribution to the painting scene today. He is the author of Tales from the Colony Room: Soho's Lost Bohemia (Unbound, 2021)

Review :
‘This insightful book is as brilliant as it is unsettling, but it’s not for the faint-hearted.’ ‘Essentially, Queens of Bohemia and Other Miss-fits is compelling and thought-provoking. It provides an invaluable look into the lives of women who defied the conventions of their time, carving out a space for themselves in a world that often sought to marginalise them.’ ‘... an affectionate and illuminating rescue of many remarkable women from virtual obscurity. The author takes personalities that time has unfairly dismissed and brings a fresh perspective to their stories.’ ‘... a compelling read for anyone with an ounce of curiosity for the heyday of Bohemia.’ ‘... gives us a taste of the Queens of Bohemia's exotic and intoxicating world.’ ‘A dramatic personae of amazing characters... The book is a fascinating read, full of outrageous stories, many straight from the mouths of the women who were there.’ ‘... links the often untold stories of generations of strong, talented, independent and outspoken women, who struggled for recognition in their chosen disciplines, frequently in the shadow of their famous male partners and friends, while having a wild old time!’ ‘Darren Coffield, the author and artist, in Queens of Bohemia has skilfully caught a highly colourful and interesting section of London society, and only just in time. Through extensive interviews he has captured most of the major figures in Bohemia, a lost world of exuberance and eccentric living, sadly never to be regained.’ ‘... the sheer moral and physical squalor of it creeps into your head like toxic mould.’ ‘... Coffield’s collection offers a world of women undervalued, sidelined, used and abused as accessories or slaves or sexual conveniences.’ ‘Darren Coffield … a notable chronicler of Soho.’