Superfluous Women By Carola Dunn
by Terrance McArthur
After World War I, Britain’s loss of two million young men meant that many young women would never have the chance to marry. Some called them spinsters or old maids, but the press called them surplus or superfluous. Superfluous Women, Carola Dunn’s 22nd mystery in the Daisy Dalrymple series, is the first novel I have read to address this issue in history. Interestingly, being superfluous freed some women from the restrictions of societal roles, allowing them to make their own lives and fortunes in the world.
