London, 1897,and Minnie Newton – 28-year-old schoolteacher and women’s rights advocate – has a passion for football. But in Victorian society, football is a men’s game.
That is, until Minnie decides to take matters into her own hands and place an ad in the newspaper, asking for volunteers to join the first ever women’s football team.
From a motley collection of replies, Minnie puts together a squad. Most of the women have never kicked a ball before – but a little thing like that isn’t about to stop them.
And when they take the game public, it isn’t long before they are drawing huge crowds, stirring controversy across the capital and beyond.
But Minnie is hiding an explosive secret. Soon, all the attention the club is getting begins to threaten the life she has built for herself.
Can she walk the line between independence and safety, or will the truth about who she really is finally come out? And is the beautiful game enough to save her freedom?
The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn is published on 2 July, 2026.
Have a look at more new historical fiction in Historia’s list of 170 books coming out this year.
