Wednesday, February 01, 2012

REVIEW: Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose (4-stars)

 What a great social history of personal relationships - whether they were larger-than-life literary figures or not, these well documented couples present variations on a theme of women's role in Victorian England.  Fantastic read - well written, very enjoyable.

Sadly, I loaned my copy to someone and it hasn't returned.  It seems like a re-read is in order with all the celebratory fluff around Charles Dickens.  The section on Charles Dickens relationship with his wife in this book merits more attention.  Yes, he was a talented writer and overcame much but he was also an incredible dick!  He philandered, he was controlling and abusive with his family, and more.

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.


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