David Geiringer, The Pope and the Pill, Sex, Catholicism and Women in Post-War England, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020, pp. XII + 213, £80.00, ISBN: 9781526138385

Abstract

In the last decade, ego-documents, oral history interviews, and the Mass Observation Archive have increasingly been used to trace changes in intimacy and authenticity in twentieth-century Britain and Europe.1 Similarly, demographic historians have used oral histories to better understand the ways religion impacted reproductive behaviours.2 Research by Diane Gervais and Danielle Gauvreau has shown the emotional struggles Catholic women underwent when trying to comply with the Catholic position on contraception in Quebec.3 The fiftieth anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the Catholic Encyclical that condemned the use of artificial methods of birth control, has further renewed interest in religion and sexuality.4 Despite this research, very little is known of the ways self-identified Catholic women lived their sexual lives in post-war Britain. David Geiringer’s book fills this gap. His clear prose challenges the ‘tale of sex destroying religion’ (p. 3) by closely exploring the discursive, material, and embodied sexual experiences of Catholic women. Based on 27 interviews with self-identified Catholic women, Geiringer takes women’s narratives seriously by recognising women’s agency in their daily life, and explores the relationship between religion and sexuality. Geiringer’s commitment to privileging the voices and experiences of Catholic women is reflected in the methodology and structure of the book. The life-cycle, divided in three key stages in reverse chronology, namely sexuality in later marriage, sexuality in early marriage, and early life and premarital sex, provide the core structure of his