The feminism pioneer claims the sexual revolution has placed increasing demands on women who are unable to cope with the pressure working life – making them just as miserable as men.

Promoting her 29th novel, Chalcot Crescent, at the Richmond Book Now Festival, Weldon said: ‘ The downside of feminism is that women are now expected to go out to work.

‘Once it was only the men who were wage slaves and now it’s the men and the women too. You know, I’d really rather blame capitalism.’…

‘If you have no aspirations and don’t want to do anything except exist, then perhaps the pre-feminist world was better.’