The Woman Who Saved the Children
Clare’s first book, The Woman Who Saved the Children, tells the inspirational story of Eglantyne Jebb.
Unconventional to her core, Eglantyne defied every Edwardian social expectation. Tearing up the rule-book wherever she went, she found she did not much care for individual children, ‘the little wretches’ as she once called them, and never wanted any of her own, but dedicated her life to promoting children’s welfare and rights. She fell in love with both a man and then a woman, took trains across Europe to work in a war zone, then returned to London only to be arrested in Trafalgar Square in 1919. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, she secured the first donation to her new Save the Children fund from the crown prosecutor in her court case. And that was just the start…
Republished in 2019 to mark Save the Children’s centenary, all author royalties from this book are donated to Save the Children.
The Woman Who Saved the Children won the Daily Mail Biographers’ Club Prize, and is now under option for film.

Winner of the Daily Mail Biographers Club prize
‘Immensely rich’
Audiobook of the Week, The Times
‘A very good read… telling an extraordinary story’
The Guardian
‘A pleasure to read… a combination of Jebb’s own mischievous attitude and Mulley’s lively style’
Times Literary Supplement
‘Beautifully constructed and passionately written… evocative, funny and poignant’
The Big Issue
‘Brings to life the world of clever and conscientious upper-middle-class women… a valuable account of a forgotten life’
Sunday Times
‘A very readable story which will strike a chord for many’
The Times
‘Unusual and perceptive’
The Daily Mail
‘Crisp masterly biography’
The Good Book Guide
‘Meticulously researched… a testimony to Jebb’s remarkable humanitarianism’
Oxford Today
‘Informative and sensitively written. Clare Mulley has done Eglantyne proud’
The Church Times
‘Sensitive, entertainingly and beautifully written… a sparkling biography’
Kate Williams
‘Kept me up half the night – really fascinating and moving – beautifully written and paced… wonderful‘
Richard Holmes, Footsteps, The Age of Wonder
‘Wonderful, clever and funny, Clare Mulley’s lively and intimate biography brings out the humour, inconsistency, willfullness and just excellent energy of Eglantyne’
Alexander Masters, Stuart: A Life Backwards
‘Pick up this book and be inspired’
Paul O’Grady
‘Brilliantly told in Clare Mulley’s book, The Woman Who Saved the Children, Eglantyne Jebb’s story is an Edwardian morality tale that speaks to our age, our country, and the world of the 21st century’
Kevin Watkins, Save the Children CEO in The Telegraph
‘A truly brilliant book’
Gordon Brown