Voting Day

In February 1959, Switzerland held a referendum on women's suffrage. The men voted ‘no'.In this powerful novella, Clare O'Dea explores that day through the eyes of four very different Swiss women. Vreni is a busy farmer's wife, longing for a break from family life. Her grown-up daughter Margrit is carving out an independent life in Bern, but finds herself trapped in an alarming situation. Esther, a cleaner, is desperate to recover her son who has been taken into care. Beatrice, a hospital administrator, has been throwing herself into the ‘yes' campaign. The four women's paths intersect on a day that will leave its mark on all their lives.


Genre: Literary Fiction

"One critical day in the imagined lives of four women might initially seem to us to have taken place several generations ago, at a time when women were literally second-class citizens, but their emotions and humanity resonate to this day with unchanged relevance. A lot has changed for women; little has changed. Clare O'Dea has brilliantly captured this dichotomy in her compelling depiction of a so-called bygone era." - Alison Anderson

"An uplifting story of hope and solidarity, as well as a vivid, fascinating snapshot of a recent (almost unbelievably recent!) moment in Swiss history. I devoured it in one sitting." - Jonathan Coe

"Through deft storytelling skill and narrative imagination, Clare O'Dea's novella shows how a particular moment in history was experienced through the eyes of real women. Subtly and ingeniously, 'Voting Day' points to the many small and big ways in which womens' struggle for equality still prevails." - Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

"O'Dea's storytelling is delicate, tender and insightful. The lives of four Swiss women in the 1950s are opened up to us with care and beauty. A work of fine historical fiction not to be missed." - Anne Griffin