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lozzcatt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
donnaadouglas's review
4.0
As a woman, this is the kind of book that makes you glad you're alive now, and appalled by the inequality that those before us suffered through.
This is a truly remarkable tale of survival - the story in Mary Eleanor, Countess od Strathmore, who was tricked into marrying a monster. Written in a clear voice with the dramatic balancing the factual, this is a captivating biography that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
This is a truly remarkable tale of survival - the story in Mary Eleanor, Countess od Strathmore, who was tricked into marrying a monster. Written in a clear voice with the dramatic balancing the factual, this is a captivating biography that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
deballen21's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent biography of woman who managed to divorce her violent husband and regain her fortune in late 18th century England. Couldn't put it down.
kelbi's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting and reads more like a novel than non-fiction.
hannaht25's review against another edition
4.0
This is historical non-fiction of the life of Mary Bowes, but if you'd told me it was fictional I would have said it's a bit dramatic and far-fetched! I can't believe I've never heard her story before. Every person who worked to get her out of her abusive marriage deserves their own biography - the bravery of some of the servants honestly made me tear up. The only negative was too much detail in parts (think George RR Martin describing flags). More historical accounts of women that history has forgotten, please!
jerihurd's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed Moore's other book, but this one wasn't as captivating, though the "villain" of the piece was certainly far more villainous! You hate him every bit as much (or more) as the husband in "Perfect Wife." Still, it takes a long time to get going and Bowes seems like such an idiot for marrying these men in the first place that your torn between feeling sorry for her and wanting to slap some sense into her.
feliciar33ds's review against another edition
4.0
This is the true story of the life and trials (literally and figuratively) of Mary Eleanor Bowes. She went from a coddled life as a rich, spoiled, silly girl to a life filled with torture, abuse, and a complete trampling of her spirit. She has no idea what she's getting into when she marries the seductive Captain Stoney. "...Mary was about to discover the true extent of the trap into which she had been lured."
This book is full of intrigue, silliness, drama, brutality, and fortitude. There are plenty of descriptions of the frivolity of the crazy rich in the 1700's, with scenes like this, "Fox had been spoiled by his doting father to such a degree that as a toddler he was once allowed to sit astride a joint of meat during a dinner party." Hey, would you like more roast beef? Uh, no thanks I'll pass.
You would think that after having such a privileged girlhood, Mary would've been weak and easily broken by her brutal husband. I kind of thought she was in the beginning, but she proved surprisingly resilient when push came to shove. "Towering over her, Bowes demanded to know whether she had had enough, to which Mary retorted, 'not the thousandth part enough; you may shoot me, or beat me to a mummy: my person is in your power, but my mind is beyond your reach."
While there are parts of this book that meandered along sort of pointlessly (did we really need to hear all the details about that botanical guy's trip to collect all those plant samples for years?), this was a thoroughly interesting study of class (ultimately it was the poor/ working people who proved to be of the most help/ support for Mary), marriage/ divorce laws, child custody rights, the workings of the court (who doesn't love a good Jarndyce and Jarndyce reference?), and ultimately, women's rights in the late 1700's. While it doesn't always feel like it, we HAVE come a long way, baby.
P.S. They must have shortened the title of this book with a new release (or maybe in paperback), as the title of this in my Kindle is ridiculously long: Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore.
This book is full of intrigue, silliness, drama, brutality, and fortitude. There are plenty of descriptions of the frivolity of the crazy rich in the 1700's, with scenes like this, "Fox had been spoiled by his doting father to such a degree that as a toddler he was once allowed to sit astride a joint of meat during a dinner party." Hey, would you like more roast beef? Uh, no thanks I'll pass.
You would think that after having such a privileged girlhood, Mary would've been weak and easily broken by her brutal husband. I kind of thought she was in the beginning, but she proved surprisingly resilient when push came to shove. "Towering over her, Bowes demanded to know whether she had had enough, to which Mary retorted, 'not the thousandth part enough; you may shoot me, or beat me to a mummy: my person is in your power, but my mind is beyond your reach."
While there are parts of this book that meandered along sort of pointlessly (did we really need to hear all the details about that botanical guy's trip to collect all those plant samples for years?), this was a thoroughly interesting study of class (ultimately it was the poor/ working people who proved to be of the most help/ support for Mary), marriage/ divorce laws, child custody rights, the workings of the court (who doesn't love a good Jarndyce and Jarndyce reference?), and ultimately, women's rights in the late 1700's. While it doesn't always feel like it, we HAVE come a long way, baby.
P.S. They must have shortened the title of this book with a new release (or maybe in paperback), as the title of this in my Kindle is ridiculously long: Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore.
pam_sartain's review against another edition
4.0
The life that Mary lead with George Stoney is one of those tales that you shudder as you read - you just want her to have a better life than the one she leads, where Stoney beats her, tells all the tradesman that he's broke (which is apparently where being 'stoney broke' comes from), even more than his contemporaries.
And then she does finally leave him, and even goes through getting a divorce, which would have been very hard, and very scandalous for the time. A very good read!
And then she does finally leave him, and even goes through getting a divorce, which would have been very hard, and very scandalous for the time. A very good read!