Scan barcode
annetjeberg's review against another edition
4.0
Truly makes one look differently at history, gender roles and the institute of marriage... Eye opening AND entertaining! Recommended for anyone interested in women's studies, history and/or the Victorian era.
berlinbibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really wonderful book. I was especially impressed with the way that Sharon Marcus combined historical and literary analysis, and "just reading" is a real breath of fresh air in the field. I must say that I was quite surprised at many of her findings, but very positively so. I recommend this book most strongly to anyone looking to learn more about women's relationships in Victorian England.
charlotekerstenauthor's review against another edition
albatrossonhalfpointe's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
It's long, so it's an investment of time, and I'm not convinced Marcus did what she set out to do in it. So unless you're actively studying this specific niche she's working in, I'd probably give it a pass. If it were shorter, I might give it a soft endorsement, just because there are some interesting observations.
More at https://kingshearte.blogspot.com/2023/04/between-women-friendship-desire-and.html
More at https://kingshearte.blogspot.com/2023/04/between-women-friendship-desire-and.html
anneke_b's review against another edition
4.0
Truly makes one look differently at history, gender roles and the institute of marriage... Eye opening AND entertaining! Recommended for anyone interested in women's studies, history and/or the Victorian era.
spinebreaker01's review against another edition
3.0
3.5. engaging writing, interesting sources (some very standard for the area of study, some more unique), and excellent literary analysis. did start to feel repetitive in the arguments, and even i (a queer person who loves learning about what we would today call queer people in history) felt like some of it was a bit of a stretch, or at least overstated. interested to compare this to works done in a similar vein.
avoryfaucette's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very academic book, and a good chunk of it focuses on literary analysis of books I haven't read. It's slow-going, but that said, I enjoyed the book. Marcus focuses on female friendship, female desire, and female marriage separately, and she meshes literature with culture and law. I found the female culture especially interesting, and she reads the literature in a way I definitely wouldn't have picked up on reading it myself.
allyriadayne's review against another edition
3.0
3,5.
A nice, informative book about how victorian women saw other women and how they interacted with each other, as friends, family and lovers (or maybe all three -- it happened). Though, the book is much more dense than it sounds like, and I didn't like that the author took so much space to explain something i.e. how anthropology sees marriage, to then later explain the actual point of the chapter. Like, I'm studying anthropology and I can take it but I see some people might tire.
Anyway, as much as it was informative and interesting all I got was that every woman is a lesbian at heart, including Reggie's mum.
A nice, informative book about how victorian women saw other women and how they interacted with each other, as friends, family and lovers (or maybe all three -- it happened). Though, the book is much more dense than it sounds like, and I didn't like that the author took so much space to explain something i.e. how anthropology sees marriage, to then later explain the actual point of the chapter. Like, I'm studying anthropology and I can take it but I see some people might tire.
Anyway, as much as it was informative and interesting all I got was that every woman is a lesbian at heart, including Reggie's mum.
itsahavartiparty's review against another edition
Didn't actually finish this one but I got a good chunk of the way through it, so I'm counting it. Found the writing too dense for my liking although the topic was fairly interesting.