ABSTRACT
The chapter describes Joan and Evelyn’s return from their honeymoon, and Joan’s attempts to find a meaningful occupation. As soon as they got home Evelyn fell ill with ‘English Cholera’. This pattern would repeat itself when there were emotional demands. Joan and her cousin Helen Verrall (daughter of Margaret and Arthur) went on an extended trip to Europe. Through Helen, Joan became involved with the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the moderate arm of the campaign for women’s suffrage. In June 1908 Joan’s daughter Diana was born. Joan had the symptoms of post-natal depression. The chapter describes Joan’s desperate and unsuccessful attempts to get support from her mother. Anna Verrall was totally preoccupied with the declining health of Joan’s father Hugh. We observe Joan’s constant attempts to have Diana looked after by other people. Just as Joan’s depression seems to lift, her father died in April 1909. Her initial response was a manic flight into activity. Gradually this settled into a determination to set up her own dressmaking business. This began to develop successfully when Joan abruptly collapsed into severe depression.
