Lady Constance was born into great privilege; her family home was the vast estate of Knebworth, and her father was Viceroy of India. So how did this woman travel from her cosseted upbringing to a punishment cell in a Liverpool gaol, where she was known only by her nom de guerre of 'Jane Warton'? In an epic feat of the imagination, Katie Ward recreates Constance's journey, as towards the end of her life she confides her secrets, her triumphs, her hopes, dreams and disappointments to her psychiatrist, Homer Lane. The portrait that emerges is of a lively, intelligent, vivacious and energetic woman who was prepared to fight to the death for what she believed in - not only against the forces of reaction, but also against those she held most dear.

Lady Constance was born into great privilege; her family home was the vast estate of Knebworth, and her father was Viceroy of India. So how did this woman travel from her cosseted upbringing to a punishment cell in a Liverpool gaol, where she was known only by her nom de guerre of 'Jane Warton'? In an epic feat of the imagination, Katie Ward recreates Constance's journey, as towards the end of her life she confides her secrets, her triumphs, her hopes, dreams and disappointments to her psychiatrist, Homer Lane. The portrait that emerges is of a lively, intelligent, vivacious and energetic woman who was prepared to fight to the death for what she believed in - not only against the forces of reaction, but also against those she held most dear.

This book provides an overview of a key concept in media and technology studies: domestication. Theories around domestication shed light upon the process in which a technology changes its status from outrageous novelty to an aspect of everyday life which is taken for granted. The contributors collect past, current and future applications of the concept of domestication, critically reflect on its theoretical legacy, and offer comments about further development. The first part of Domestication of Media and Technology provides an overview of the conceptual development and theory of domestication. In the second part of the book, contributors look at a diverse range of empirical studies that use the domestication approach to examine the dynamics between users and technologies. These studies include: Mobile information and communications techologies (ICTs) and the transformation of the relationship between private and the public spheres Home-based internet use: the two-way dynamic between the household and its social environment Disadvantaged women in Europe undertaking introductory internet courses Urban middle-class families in China who embrace ICTs and view them as instruments of upward mobility and symbols of success The book offers valuable insights for both experienced researchers and students looking for an introduction to the concept of domestication. Contributors: Maria Bakardjieva, University of Calgary; Thomas Berker, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Leslie Haddon, Essex University; Maren Hartmann, University of Erfurt; Deirdre Hynes, Dublin City University; Sun Sun Lim, National University of Singapore; Anna Maria Russo Lemor, University of Colorado at Boulder; David Morley, Goldsmiths College, University of London; Jo Pierson, TNO-STB, Delft, Netherlands; Yves Punie, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) in Seville; Els Rommes, Nijmegen University; Roger Silverstone, London School of Economics and Political Science; Knut H. Sorensen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Katie J. Ward, University of Sheffield.

This stunningly original, kaleidoscopic novel is an inspired celebration of women reading and the artists who have caught them in the act--"a vivid portrait of a timeless subject" ("Minneapolis Star Tribune").
A young orphan poses for a Renaissance maestro in medieval Siena. A servant girl in seventeenth-century Amsterdam snatches a moment away from her work to lose herself in tales of knights and battles. An eighteenth-century female painter completes a portrait of a deceased poetess for her lover. A Victorian medium poses with a book in one of the first photographic studios. A girl suffering her first heartbreak witnesses intellectual and sexual awakening during the Great War. A young woman reading in a bar catches the eye of a young man who takes her picture. And in the not-so-distant future a woman navigates a cyber-reality that has radically altered the way people experience art and life.
Each chapter of Katie Ward's novel immerses readers into the intimate tales behind the creation of seven portraits by artists, ranging from Simone Martini to Pieter Janssens Elinga to a Flickr photographer. In gorgeous prose, Ward explores our points of connection, our relationship to art, the history of women, and the importance of reading. Dazzlingly inventive, this is "a fascinating testament to the universal themes of art and literature and the spirit of femininity" ("BookPage").

An orphan poses nervously for a Renaissance maestro in medieval Siena, and an artist's servant girl in seventeenth-century Amsterdam snatches a moment away from her work to lose herself in tales of knights and battles. A woman reading in a Shoreditch bar catches the eye of a young man who takes her picture, and a Victorian medium holds a book that she barely acknowledges while she waits for the exposure.