Leanne McCormick – författare

The Number 1 Bestseller'A captivating account of lives previously ignored' Sunday Independent'An important, impeccably researched though eminently readable book that charts new territory' Irish Examiner* * *Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was not a good place to be a woman. Among the wave of emigrants from Ireland to North America were many, many young women who travelled on their own, hoping for a better life. Some lived lives of quiet industry and piety. Others quickly found themselves in trouble - bad trouble, and on an astonishing scale.Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick, creators of the celebrated 'Bad Bridget' podcast, have unearthed a world in which Irish women actually outnumbered Irish men in prison, in which you could get locked up for 'stubbornness', and in which a serial killer called Lizzie Halliday was described by the New York Times as 'the worst woman on earth'. They reveal the social forces that bred this mayhem and dysfunction, through stories that are brilliantly strange, sometimes funny, and often moving. From sex workers and thieves to kidnappers and killers, these Bridgets are young women who have gone from the frying pan of their impoverished homeland to the fire of vast North American cities.Bad Bridget is a masterpiece of social history and true crime, showing us a fascinating and previously unexplored world.* * * 'I just loved it!' Ryan Tubridy'Fascinating' Irish Times'Rich in detail and thorough in research' New Statesman

This is a groundbreaking examination of the attempts to regulate female sexuality in twentieth-century Northern Ireland, which opens up new and exciting areas of a previously neglected history.A wide-ranging study, it explores the sexual experiences of women in the context of the distinctive religious, political and social circumstances of Northern Ireland during the twentieth century. The commonality of attitudes of the Catholic Churches toward the control of female sexuality is revealed, along with the similarity of views concerning female behaviour.While the ways in which various authorities tried to control female behaviour are explored, it is also argued that women were not simply victims, but employed a variety of survival strategies and active agency, no matter how difficult their circumstances were.This work will appeal not only to an academic audience but also to non-academic readers interested in a new and exciting view of Northern Ireland’s past.