LoveReading Says
An absolute must-read for horseracing aficionados, Karen Wiltshire’s No Place for a Girl also comes wholly recommended for those who love inspiring, odds-defying true stories of passion, determination and grit in the face of seemingly insurmountable steeple-sized obstacles, in this case exclusionary sexism in the sphere of 1970s horseracing.
“As a young woman with one obsession in life, I was not living a normal existence”. So shares Karen Wiltshire near the opening of her extraordinary journey from fighting misogyny to becoming the first female professional jockey to win a Flat race, noting that many of her jockey peers “were quite content for females to ride” with the caveat, “as long as they knew their place”.
Though the situation has changed for the better in the 40+ years since Wiltshire’s historic win, she also notes that “there’s been insufficient progress for women jockeys”, and remains committed to bringing about change, and to “demonstrating that there definitely is a place for girls in racing”.
Written in a personable punch-packing style, with accounts of misogyny that might just make your blood boil, No Place for a Girl is by turns moving, amusing and — above all — thoroughly inspirational.
Joanne Owen
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No Place for a Girl Synopsis
No Place for a Girl is the little-known but hugely inspirational story of pioneering woman jockey Karen Wiltshire and her fight for acceptance in the male-dominated world of 1970s horseracing.
There was a time when female professional jockeys were not welcome in British horseracing. But then one dauntless rider confronted the misogyny, prejudice and bullying she encountered both in the stables where she worked and on the racecourse, refused to accept that this environment was 'no place for a girl' and ultimately won her personal battle.
This book tells the moving, humorous, controversial and on occasions outright shocking story of four tumultuous years in Karen's life, when she rode roughshod over prevailing attitudes and became the first woman to reach a significant staging post in the fight for equality, when she rode against some of the sport's most illustrious names. Her obsession brought the reward she craved. She became the first female professional jockey to win a Flat race, beating her male counterparts.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781801509923 |
| Publication date: |
7th October 2024 |
| Author: |
Karen Wiltshire |
| Publisher: |
Pitch Publishing an imprint of Pitch Publishing Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
288 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Biographies & Autobiographies
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| Other Genres: |
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About Karen Wiltshire
Karen Wiltshire has collaborated with Nick Townsend to tell her story. Nick worked as a sportswriter at the Daily Mail and then The Independent on Sunday and has freelanced for publications such as The Sunday Times, Racing Post and Racing Ahead, for whom he still writes. His previous books include the co-authored autobiographies of Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Ben Ainslie, plus the best-selling Sure Thing: The Greatest Coup in Horse Racing History.
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