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jeffburns's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic book about a subject almost no one has ever heard of. Eunice Chapman sought a divorce and custody of her children in 1815 when her husband kidnapped them and took them to live in a Shaker community. At a time when women had no rights, she led a one-woman campaign which changed New York state divorce and custody laws. Highly recommend.
bawright1987's review against another edition
3.0
I had originally checked this book out for research on a story I'm currently writing regarding divorce. I enjoyed the story and the history behind it...but I couldn't get through it. One moment I was too annoyed with the "Holy" behavior of the Shaker community and the next I was too annoyed at the unnecessary random details that didn't apply to the story. Skimmed through and read the last few chapters and finally I just gave up altogether.
sde's review against another edition
4.0
Would I have liked this book as much if I didn't live in the area where most of the story takes place? I don't know, but because I live here I found it super fascinating. Although we know that Shakers lived around here, there are some buildings still remaining, and we have lore surrounding them, I had never heard even a peep about this woman's story.
Eunice Chapman was an amazing woman who convinced the NYS legislature to pass legislation on her behalf. This is daunting to do today, never mind for a woman to do at a time when they had no vote. We do not know much about Eunice, but the author was able to piece together a compelling portrait by meticulously doing her research and tying together the various snippets she found.
The book showed a negative side of the Shakers that we don't usually hear. I liked this because it made the Shakers seemed more real and complicated, not just some quaint and cute people like they are often portrayed. Their philosophy meant giving up more than just sex. People had struggles with the religion. The religion also provided a lot of support for oddballs and those with no one to support them - I never thought about how this might lead to their downfall.
I enjoyed the little tidbits about my hometown, Albany. The fact that they had pigs roaming the street to clean up the garbage and then be slaughtered when people were hungry was my favorite.
Eunice Chapman was an amazing woman who convinced the NYS legislature to pass legislation on her behalf. This is daunting to do today, never mind for a woman to do at a time when they had no vote. We do not know much about Eunice, but the author was able to piece together a compelling portrait by meticulously doing her research and tying together the various snippets she found.
The book showed a negative side of the Shakers that we don't usually hear. I liked this because it made the Shakers seemed more real and complicated, not just some quaint and cute people like they are often portrayed. Their philosophy meant giving up more than just sex. People had struggles with the religion. The religion also provided a lot of support for oddballs and those with no one to support them - I never thought about how this might lead to their downfall.
I enjoyed the little tidbits about my hometown, Albany. The fact that they had pigs roaming the street to clean up the garbage and then be slaughtered when people were hungry was my favorite.
kargoforth's review against another edition
5.0
Full of symbolism--about choices, the battle within, and though it is small, it is heavy--one to be read more than once
lizdesole's review against another edition
5.0
Although the author makes a very serious attempt to be impartial, she can't completely mask how she feels about the Shakers. Maybe because they were crazy! Wow, I never realized how crazy. It is such a frightening account of how few rights women had in the 1810s. Thank God for women who were willing to be considered shrewish to wrestle rights from the white men in power
sophronisba's review against another edition
4.0
If I have a complaint about The Great Divorce, it's that Woo often tells us what Eunice is feeling and thinking without providing citations. In the endnotes, Woo says that "Details about the weather and descriptions of Eunice’s thoughts and moods all originate in period sources. In particular, my discussion of Eunice’s feelings is rooted in her books." But for me that was too little too late. I am wary of projecting our twenty-first century brains onto what a nineteenth-century woman may have been thinking; our worldviews are just so different.
Other than that, though, The Great Divorce really is a very good book, as well as a compelling read. (I couldn't put it down in the last half, despite the fact that Woo had already told me what was going to happen hundreds pages earlier. And despite the fact that everyone involved was long-dead.) My preference would have been for a little more analysis and a little more intellectual history. But it is certainly a compelling read, and left me thinking about the women's history on both sides of the legal battle.
Other than that, though, The Great Divorce really is a very good book, as well as a compelling read. (I couldn't put it down in the last half, despite the fact that Woo had already told me what was going to happen hundreds pages earlier. And despite the fact that everyone involved was long-dead.) My preference would have been for a little more analysis and a little more intellectual history. But it is certainly a compelling read, and left me thinking about the women's history on both sides of the legal battle.
twirlsandwhirls's review
5.0
I absolutely loved reading Eunice Chapman's story! Ilyon Woo has done a remarkable amount of research and it shows on every page. Even the Sources and Acknowledgments after the epilogue were fascinating to me.
I found this book while browsing at the library. The title grabbed me for a number of reasons: my interest in utopian societies, my lack of Shaker knowledge, a salacious tale of divorce in the Victorian era, a custody battle from 200 years ago, the chance to imagine Albany as it was in its boom days. My list could go on. I learned much more than I bargained for and come away from the book with complicated opinions about the Shakers, legal practices of the time (most appallingly, civil death of married women), and Eunice herself.
Yes, the story is dramatic. Ilyon Woo herself acknowledges that she wrote this piece (for 10 years, even!) with drama in mind. What holds true, though, is the fact that all parties involved, from Eunice to New York lawmakers, to James Chapman, to the Shakers in all of their villages, were overzealous for one reason or another. This gave them each a fatal flaw. That right there is the linchpin of drama.
Lastly, what I found most enjoyable and satisfying about the book is the nuance despite all the drama. The author never sides with anyone outright, and that's key. As written, the reader may see when the state is using James Chapman as an example of a good man slandered by his power-hungry, sexpot wife, even as she fights for her children. We may also see that the Shakers valued order and peace above cooperation with any law or sinners, which made keeping the Chapman children an act of God and one that had to be done. I'd highly recommend a thorough reading!
I found this book while browsing at the library. The title grabbed me for a number of reasons: my interest in utopian societies, my lack of Shaker knowledge, a salacious tale of divorce in the Victorian era, a custody battle from 200 years ago, the chance to imagine Albany as it was in its boom days. My list could go on. I learned much more than I bargained for and come away from the book with complicated opinions about the Shakers, legal practices of the time (most appallingly, civil death of married women), and Eunice herself.
Yes, the story is dramatic. Ilyon Woo herself acknowledges that she wrote this piece (for 10 years, even!) with drama in mind. What holds true, though, is the fact that all parties involved, from Eunice to New York lawmakers, to James Chapman, to the Shakers in all of their villages, were overzealous for one reason or another. This gave them each a fatal flaw. That right there is the linchpin of drama.
Lastly, what I found most enjoyable and satisfying about the book is the nuance despite all the drama. The author never sides with anyone outright, and that's key. As written, the reader may see when the state is using James Chapman as an example of a good man slandered by his power-hungry, sexpot wife, even as she fights for her children. We may also see that the Shakers valued order and peace above cooperation with any law or sinners, which made keeping the Chapman children an act of God and one that had to be done. I'd highly recommend a thorough reading!
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