Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Supporting your high street Find out how »
An Iron Girl in a Velvet Glove : The Life of Joan Rhodes, Hardback Book

An Iron Girl in a Velvet Glove : The Life of Joan Rhodes Hardback

Hardback

Less than 10 available - usually despatched within 24 hours

Description

Joan Rhodes would leave audiences speechless as she bent steel bars with her teeth, ripped large phone books into quarters, and lifted two men at a time.

But what she did was real. Joan had a superstrength, forged out of desperation to survive.

Born into poverty in 1920s London and abandoned by her parents, Joan endured a spell in the workhouse.

Despite the worst possible start, she made it to the top of her profession to rub shoulders with the likes of Fred Astaire, Bob Hope and Sammy Davis Jnr.

Joan's crowning glory was to perform for the Queen at Windsor Castle, and along the way she made lifelong friendships with Marlene Dietrich, Quentin Crisp and Dame Laura Knight.

Biographer Triona Holden met Joan in her later years.

When Joan passed away, Triona set out to secure her friend’s place in history.

She appeared on the show The Repair Shop to tell the strongwoman’s story, and sifted through archives to retrace her journey to stardom.

Joan saw herself as a freak, but in truth she was a champion for the so-called fairer sex.

At a time when women were still groomed for marriage, An Iron Girl in a Velvet Glove tells the fascinating and tumultuous story of a woman who followed her own unique path.

Information

Save 19%

£16.99

£13.69

Less than 10 available - usually despatched within 24 hours
Add to Basket
Sign in to add to wishlist
 
Free Home Delivery

on all orders

 
Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Information