The Invisible Riot is the debut novel by Rosemary Harris, capturing the direct action protests of the Suffragette movement in the UK. With a unique, visceral interpretation, the book overthrows the cliches of faux-Edwardian covers, pastel sketches of demure ladies in long dresses, and worthy titles usually involving marching or singing (or both). This was not a polite movement, it was a desperate physical battle, with stories that have been substantially sidelined in our cultural memory.
On this site you will find short extracts from the novel, plus reflections on the contemporary legacies of an incendiary, life-and-death struggle.
The Invisible Riot is represented by the Annette Green Agency.
everything shatters into terrifying shards, her head feels compressed then released like a balloon let go, spiralling chaotically, for a feverish moment she eyes the shop next door as well, the hammer at the end of her arm and why shouldn’t she, there is nothing to stop her, the crowd stands well back, no heroes stride forward
glass crunches like ice under her boots
on either side of her, Oxford Street detonates
from The Invisible Riot, 2013
THE INVISIBLE RIOT 
Sheridan Quigley
June 2, 2013
The visceral physicality of the writing and sounds it makes inside my head create an extraordinarily cinematic impact. This is fantastic stuff. I’m desperate to read the whole the whole thing.
Jo McFarlane
June 2, 2013
I am so looking forward to reading ‘The Invisible Riot’ I’ve read a few bits of it already from Rosie’s thesis last year. I thought it was stunningly good. Powerful, visceral, original and beautifully written! We are all in for an absolute treat!!!
Now I know what I’ll be getting everyone for Christmas then…
jo xxx
Steve Brown
June 2, 2013
Can’t wait to read it! Have been following your writing from song lyrics to poetry and beyond for years and it has been an invisible riot… Now’s the time for you to become more visible! 🙂
GlowWorm
June 2, 2013
Vivid. Immediate. Has the essential quality o making you want to know what happens next.
Fiona Egan
June 3, 2013
A brick through a window – I love it!
polly moyer
June 3, 2013
Wonderful – thank you for this preview. The language is so perfectly matched to the subject and the characters feel strong and dynamic. Can’t wait to order my copy and then read it and re-read it.
Saradha Soobrayen
June 3, 2013
It was thrilling reading through the novel extracts especially the confrontational second person narrative. This is such a underused device in literature it needs a skilful and sensitive writer like Rosemary Harris to really make it work. It really pushed me to become entwined emotionally with the text…such exciting work…can’t wait to read more!!
Hilaire
June 3, 2013
I went all goosepimply reading these extracts – intense and immediate and thoroughly engaging. Your novel most definitely needs to be a BOOK!
Dennis Clements
June 5, 2013
Can’t wait to see this work in its entirety. A great topic told by a writer with incredible insight on the human condition.
Sylvia Pleasant
June 6, 2013
Wow – these tantalising extracts just leave me wanting more! Such exciting and skilful stuff – I join the throngs desperate to read the whole thing.Thank you for this brave and vibrant writing and for bringing our herstory to vital and compelling life.
pagbabi
June 10, 2013
Blown away already by the poetry of the prose, the words themselves taking on a physical stance. And LOVE the photo. Can’t wait to read the book!
Moya
June 19, 2013
The first time I read these words- they stopped me in my tracks- vital – I love the idea that once the first hammer blow is struck – there is nothing to stop her smashing every window in Oxford Street- publish this book!!!