The Scandalous Ladies Football Club

The Radio 2 Book Club Summer Pick 2026

Welcome to the British Ladies Football Club

London, 1897. Minnie Newton – twenty-eight-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?

A story inspired by real-life Victorian trailblazers, who showed the world that women can do anything they put their minds to, even if the world around them says they can’t.

PRAISE FOR FRANCES QUINN:

'Another fantastic female-centred historical novel from Frances Quinn' WOMAN & HOME

'An uplifting story of camaraderie and courage' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

‘An uplifting, warmhearted, glorious romp of a novel where the underdogs triumph and the world is put to rights…Frances Quinn has such a talent for tackling serious historical topics with heart, humour, and humanity.' LOUISE FEIN

'A triumphant, heart-lifting read about friendship, resilience, and rewriting the rules.’ NIKKI SMITH

‘Frances Quinn remains top of the historical fiction league with this feminist, feelgood page-turner’ PENNY BATCHELOR

‘Packed with wit, humour, and warmth. Frances Quinn scores again.' EMILIA HART

'This funny, heart-warming story examines friendship, female power and what it really means to be an independent woman in Victorian England.' ELENI KYRIACOU

‘Full of heart and humour … a hymn to friendship and a celebration of female power’ NICOLA GILL

‘Frances Quinn is the Sarina Wiegman of historical fiction, producing a winner every time!’ TREVOR WOOD

‘Full of humour, friendship, and wonderful characters that leap off the page’ LOUISE HARE

‘Frances Quinn has effortlessly captured the spirit of an era in this delightful page-turner of a novel' JOANNA GLEN

‘A beautifully written page-turner’ LILA CAIN