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mcastello13's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
I’m not sure why I went into this book not realizing how depressing it would be. Of course women who lived at all levels of society in Tudor England experienced intense misogyny and second-class places in society, and the book does a good job of thoroughly highlighting that.
That said, it also includes many examples of extremely fascinating women who defied the limitations and societal conventions of the age to lead quite extraordinary lives. I like that their stories are shared in more depth here, and that the book focuses on women from all social classes, not just the nobility (although noble and royal women of the time also quite often led incredibly interesting lives).
The Tudors and Tudor England have captivated me for a long time, and yet I always feel there is so much more to learn about the time and its people. All in all I really enjoyed this and the deeper knowledge I gained of the time, and especially its women, through it.
That said, it also includes many examples of extremely fascinating women who defied the limitations and societal conventions of the age to lead quite extraordinary lives. I like that their stories are shared in more depth here, and that the book focuses on women from all social classes, not just the nobility (although noble and royal women of the time also quite often led incredibly interesting lives).
The Tudors and Tudor England have captivated me for a long time, and yet I always feel there is so much more to learn about the time and its people. All in all I really enjoyed this and the deeper knowledge I gained of the time, and especially its women, through it.
hannahleebibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Torture, Classism, and Confinement
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, War, Suicide, and Xenophobia
My content warnings may make this book seem off-putting, but it simply offers a realistic description of life as it really was for women of all ages and classes in the Tudor era — including those elements we’d rather not think about. However, in my opinion, this does not detract from the excellent writing and content of the work.mrk_pnp's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.75
Very informative and I enjoyed that examples were given from historical records not just broad references to customs or events.
alexisdpatt's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
“The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women: A Social History” by Elizabeth Norton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women” is a very interesting read that is organized in a very intriguing way through Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man but with a bit of middling twist whilst also tracking chronologically through the period from 1485-1603.
The first four stages for women in this book consist of: pregnancy, birth and childhood (0-7), education (8-14), marriage and motherhood (15-27) and entrepreneurship (28-35). The next two stages are organized not so much by age but by societal structures that affected women such as religion, widowhood and a second chance at love while the last stage deals with women in old age and witchcraft. (I know the organizing of this book feels weird but I swear it makes sense.)
I was presently surprised to see just how many women who weren’t Royal or part of the nobility that make an appearance throughout the book. When it comes to history from the bottom up, it can be difficult discussing every day people the further back in history one looks because of the lack of information a part from birth, baptism and death. Norton does a very good job at using key historical figures as a jumping off point for these other women and their stories as well as placing these stories within their proper context.
Overall I really enjoyed this. It’s a solid read that I’d recommend to anyone who wants to get a broad overview of the period from a perspective that isn’t just Henry and his wives (spoiler only 3 of the wives are discussed in detail, 2 are mentioned and I’m almost positive 1 is completely left out and it’s annoying how irrelevant she is to Henry, public discourse and this book—IYKYK).
Oh and #justiceformargaretpolecountessofsalisbury
ameyawarde's review against another edition
5.0
I actually loved this more than I thought I would. I feel like anyone even a bit interested in tudor/middle age history or women's history in general should check this out. It really 3dimentionalizes the lives of women of the time and shows how many got around the "women were not allowed to XYZ" that we hear about.
lisamshardlow's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely loved everything about this book, it was so interesting. I'd only ever read historical fiction about the Tudor period before, so this was something different to what I'm used to reading, thoroughly enjoyed it though. I liked how the author went through each of the seven stages of life, as created by Shakespeare, and how she chose to write about lesser known women as well as the more well known ones of the time, also the little history bits that she included in each chapter I enjoyed a lot too. I'd recommend this book to anyone!