Suzanne: The Jazz Age Goddess Of Tennis

Hardcover, 212 pages.

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“Even as a lover of tennis history, I’ve never found something that breathed so much vivid life into the drama and elegance of a bygone era as Suzanne. Tom Humberstone has achieved something very special here.”

-Ben Rothenberg (No Challenges Remaining)


The incredible story of Suzanne Lenglen, a woman who changed the face of sport and
society in the trailblazing jazz age, but who few even remember.

One of the greatest tennis players the world has ever seen was a woman few even remember. A championship player by the age of fifteen in a Europe overshadowed by impending war, Suzanne Lenglen broke records for ticket sales and match winning streaks, scandalised and entranced the public with her playing outfits, and became a pioneer, making friends and enemies throughout restrictive tennis society in the trailblazing jazz age.

With stunning art and an astute eye, and featuring a foreword by founding co-secretary of the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Hall of Fame member Françoise Dürr, Suzanne explores how a figure both enormously influential and too-often overlooked battled her father's ambition, bias in sporting journalism, and her own divisive personality, to forge a new path - and to change sport forever.


"Suzanne Lenglen’s life and career burst from the pages thanks to Humberstone’s skillful art and prose. One of tennis’ most important trailblazers comes to life; a beautiful addition to any sports fan’s library."

–The Body Serve Tennis Podcast

"A stunningly beautiful biography of a mighty character, navigating international celebrity, the rigour of tennis, and a whole lot of sexist bullshit all along the way."

–Helen Zaltzman (The Allusionist)


About The Author

Tom Humberstone is an award-winning comic artist and illustrator based in Edinburgh.

He writes and draws non-fiction comics for the Ignatz award-winning The Nib, as well as the New Statesman, Vox, Icon Books, Buzzfeed and others.

His work has also appeared in Phonogram (Image Comics), Doctor Who (Titan) and the Eisner award-nominated Nelson (Blank Slate Books).

He is the editor and publisher of the critically acclaimed UK comics anthology Solipsistic Pop and the co-editor of Over The Line: An Introduction to Poetry Comics (Sidekick Books).