The Case of the Married Woman by Antonia Fraser

The Case of the Married Woman by Antonia Fraser

Award-winning historian Antonia Fraser brilliantly portrays a courageous and compassionate woman who refused to be curbed by the personal and political constraints of her time.

Caroline Norton dazzled nineteenth-century society with her vivacity, her intelligence, her poetry, and in her role as an artist's muse. After her marriage in 1828 to the MP George Norton, she continued to attract friends and admirers to her salon in Westminster, which included the young Disraeli. Most prominent among her admirers was the widowed Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.

Racked with jealousy, George Norton took the Prime Minister to court, suing him for damages on account of his 'Criminal Conversation' (adultery) with Caroline. A dramatic trial followed. Despite the unexpected and sensational result--acquittal--Norton was still able to legally deny Caroline access to her three children, all under seven. He also claimed her income as an author for himself, since the copyrights of a married woman belonged to her husband.

Yet Caroline refused to despair. Beset by the personal cruelties perpetrated by her husband and a society whose rules were set against her, she chose to fight, not surrender. She channeled her energies in an area of much-needed reform: the rights of a married woman and specifically those of a mother. Over the next few years she campaigned tirelessly, achieving her first landmark victory with the Infant Custody Act of 1839. Provisions which are now taken for granted, such as the right of a mother to have access to her own children, owe much to Caroline, who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society from the privileged to the dispossessed.

Love and Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette (which was adapted into a film by Sofia Coppola), The Wives of Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, Faith and Treason: The Tale of the Gunpowder Plot, and Perilous Question: Reform or Revolution? are among Antonia Fraser's numerous worldwide bestselling historical writings. She's also the author of the book Do You Have to Go? She has won the Wolfson Award for History, the Norton Medlicott Medal of the British Historical Association in 2000, and the Enid McLeod Literary Prize of the Franco-British Society. In 2011, she was named a Dame of the British Empire for her contributions to literature.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781639361571
ISBN 10	163936157X
Title	The Case of the Married Woman
Author	Antonia Fraser
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Pegasus Books
Year published	2022-05-03
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.