A runaway bestseller when it was published in Sweden in 1910, and now a classic, Elin Wägner's Penwoman was "the book of the Swedish women's suffrage movement" according to translator Sarah Death. Now 100 years old, Penwoman remains a captivating story that not only convincing transports back to the beginning of the twentieth century, but reaches ahead to the twenty-first and speaks to the gender inequality that still exists.

The story begins with Cecilia Bech, a language teacher and young spinster, on a train to Stockholm, lost in thought about an old romance that has traumatized her. She is joined unexpectedly by a fellow teacher from her school, the doctor and suffragist Ester Henning. The conversation that ensues is one that a reader might expect from the novel: Ester, in her enthusiasm, embarks on educating her rather reserved and politically indifferent colleague on suffrage issues. Cecilia holds her own in the conversation, but even though she won't get involved politically, she agrees to offer some help with a bit of office work.

Cecilia lives in a boarding house with an eclectic mix of characters, and their meals together are filled with wonderful chit-chat which gives readers a window into the then-contemporary attitudes of ordinary men and women. It is here we meet the young, pretty Barbro Magnus, known to everyone by her nickname, Penwoman. A suffragist, Penwoman is feisty, imprudent and quick-witted, and she stands up to many of the men in the boarding house group. After one tussle with a particularly argumentative male boarder, who abruptly leaves the room after their verbal scuffle, another man in the room addresses her:

It is this Penwoman whom readers—and Cecilia—will be unable to resist. Penwoman is talented, intelligent, and determined, and her position at the Liberal Morning News has given her some insight:

In an effort to avoid an annoying roommate, Penwoman befriends Cecilia at the boardinghouse. Eventually, though, she convinces Cecilia that she has the resources to have her own apartment or house in the city. Penwoman soon follows suit by finding an apartment of her own. Cecilia, after some delay, and still politically indifferent, remembers her promise to help out with some of the office work for the suffragists, and goes to the group's headquarters to volunteer for what is nicknamed there the "Hard Labour Gang." Penwoman falls in love and must navigate and reconcile a relationship and the issues of marriage and gender roles with her feminist beliefs (and so must her boyfriend).

Sweden's women did not get the right to vote until 1918, and it did not go into effect until 1921. And yet, there are passages in the book that could have been written for the political environment today, particularly here in the United States. The phrase "equal pay for equal work" is as current today as it is in this 1910 book, as is the following passage:

This is the first translation of Pennskaftet into English, beautifully translated by Sarah Death. Infinitely readable with a smooth prose style and lively dialog, Penwoman firmly places the reader in the early years of the twentieth century in Stockholm. The story reveals the variety of attitudes prevailing during a time of cultural change and was meant clearly to challenge common stereotypes of women activists. The novel also paints a vivid picture of a sisterhood of suffragists who doggedly fought for the rights of women. And yet, for all of its politics, the novel is entertaining, fresh, and yes, even inspiring.