The forgotten novel: Why we need to revive Manchester’s ‘Madame Bovary’

Madeline Linford is remembered as the first female member of the Guardian’s editorial board. But her 1930 book is witty and devastating

Good morning and welcome to today’s members-only edition, which takes a head-long dive into class, romance and marriage in 1920s Manchester. Sophie has been reading a fascinating novel that hasn’t seen the light of day for almost a century — written by a local woman who rose to a senior position at the Guardian but whose literary output has been seriously overlooked.

Madeline Linford's Out of the Window was published to middling-to-dismissive reviews in 1930 and has now been revived and republished thanks to a historian and longtime Mill member called Michael Herbert. Sophie read the book on holiday recently and has written a brilliant piece that really captures the drama of the book.

For those who are purists about minor spoilers (fair, legit) and are planning to order Out of the Window, you might want to stop reading halfway down. For the rest of you: enjoy! And let us know what you think of the book if you end up reading it on the strength of this review.

But first? A push for cots …