Jack and Eve: Two Women in Love and War
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the lifting of the ban on gay people serving in the British armed forces, author Wendy Moore will be holding a special IWM in Conversation, focused on her book Jack and Eve: Two Women in Love and War.
Vera 'Jack' Holme and Evelina Haverfield met in 1908, fell in love, lived together, and became public faces of the suffragette movement. During the First World War their Suffragette activities were put on hold. They travelled to Serbia with the Scottish Women’s Hospital Service.
Together, they carved radical new paths, demonstrating that women could do anything men could do, whether driving ambulances, running military hospitals, becoming prisoners of war or bearing arms. Determined to be themselves, ‘forthright, flamboyant and proud’, Wendy Moore uses Jack and Eve's story as a lens through which to view the suffragette movement, the work of women in the First World War and the development of lesbian identity throughout the twentieth century.
About Wendy Moore
Wendy Moore is an award-winning author and freelance journalist. As a freelance journalist specialising in health, Wendy has written for the Guardian, Times, Sunday Telegraph and Express, and medical journals including the Lancet and BMJ.
Wendy has written six historical non-fiction books, telling the stories of remarkable people from the past. Covering topics from trailblazing Georgian surgeons to suffragettes in the First World War, Wendy's books have been widely acclaimed. She has also lectured at the University of North Carolina, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Oregon Health and Science University and the University of Toledo.
Jack and Eve: Two Women in Love and at War
Jack and Eve: Two Women in Love and at War tells the true story of Vera 'Jack' Holme and Evelina Haverfield, pioneering suffragettes who became lovers. Jack was an actress who specialised in cross-dressing roles. She became official chauffeur to suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst.
Eve was born into the British aristocracy and was an intrepid traveller who became one of the suffragettes' most active speakers and agitators. In the First World War they went to Serbia with the Scottish Women's Hospitals voluntary organisation to provide medical aid to the Serbian Army. When Serbia was invaded they were taken prisoners of war. After being freed, they travelled to Russia with the SWH to drive ambulances right up to the firing line on the Dobruja front.
They were devoted lifelong partners but also pioneers of new ways of living and loving. Jack enjoyed numerous liaisons with other women - detailed in her diaries - and especially favoured three-way relationships. But when Eve died in Serbia soon after the war ended, Jack was devastated. Jack and Eve is a love story set against the backdrop of intense acts of bravery during the First World War.
About Your Ticket
As a charity, your IWM In Conversation ticket purchase helps IWM continue to tell stories for future generations.
Tickets cost just £20 per person (including IWM members) and includes:
- Wendy's talk within the impressive surroundings of IWM London’s Roof Terrace
- A special Q&A with Wendy Moore
- Ask your own questions and join the conversation
- The talk culminates in a book signing and a personal meet and greet with Wendy
- Then enjoy exclusive after-hours entry to the First World War Galleries.
In addition to your ticket booking, if you can, please purchase your copy of the book from our IWM pop up shop on the evening. Every purchase you make supports the work we do.
