Marking the 100th anniversary year of women getting the vote, feminist campaigner Dr Helen Pankhurst will be visiting Letchworth to discuss her new book at The Settlement on February 27.

The great granddaughter of Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is marking the important occasion with a discussion of her latest literary offering, ‘Deeds not Words’, which explores women’s lives during the past century.

Settlement manager Sonia Weston said: “It is such a privilege to have Dr Pankhurst talking about her book at such a significant anniversary.

“We are hoping to attract both old friends and new faces to what promises to be a thought-provoking evening.”

The book charts how lives have changed and offers a new way forward. Each of the five chapters within the book explores a different theme – politics, money, family and identity, violence and culture.

The voices of both pioneers and ordinary women are woven into the analysis, which ends with suggestions about how to better understand and strengthen feminist campaigning.

Emmeline Pankhurst famously founded the Women’s Franchise League, which fought to allow married women to vote in local elections.

She also helped found the Women’s Social and Political Union, which gained attention through demonstrations that included window smashing, arson and hunger strikes which led to her and her fellow campaigners – known as Suffragettes – being arrested on a number of occasions.

When imprisoned, the women would go on hunger strikes which led to the government of the time passing the ‘Cat and Mouse’ Act, which meant starving prisoners would be released until they regained strength.

Emmeline died shortly after women were granted equal voting rights with men in 1928.

Tickets for Dr Pankhurst’s talk are priced at £7, which includes a glass of wine or soft drink. Doors open at 7.30pm for a 7.45pm start.

Copies of ‘Deeds not Words’ – a Suffragette slogan – will be available at a discounted price of £20 instead of £25 on the night thanks to David’s Bookshop, and Dr Pankhurst will be on hand to sign copies.

For tickets and further information visit www.letchworthsettlement.org.uk or contact the The Settlement directly on 01462 682828.

Tickets are also available from David’s Bookshop in Letchworth town centre.