Wedded Wife by Rachael Lennon
Wedded Wifeis a feminist study of the institution of marriage and its history.
'Rachael Lennon demonstrates how the personal really is political in women’s history in linking her own wedding to the history of marriageThought provoking and engaging, this is an account of private love and historical connections.' -- Philippa Gregory
'Illuminated by wide reading, Lennon interweaves her own experience of marrying her wife in 2017 with past stories – like diarist Anne Lister’s private marriage ceremony in 1834. Lennon makes clear: ‘we remember that there is no one way… to live a marriage’.' -- Dr Jill Liddington, author of As Good as Marriage: The Anne Lister Diaries 1836–38
'A fascinating book, which treads a new path through the history of marriage from a feminist perspective, Wedded Wife is eminently readable, and in places, darkly funny. The prose is at once well-paced and reflective, as Lennon weaves her own personal experience of proposal and marriage into the narrative. There is something for everybody here, from the voices of those women in the past who dared to challenge their lot, to the surprisingly recent invention of much that we consider "traditional".' -- Chloe Duckworth, writer and presenter on The Great British Dig
'Lennon is adept at weaving together individual stories and historical records in a way that is simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking.' -- Rachel Cunliffe, New Statesman
'Lennon courageously lays bare the truth about our historical understanding of marriage, dispelling various fairytale myths and highlighting how it has often, through the centuries, subjugated generations of women. In drawing on her own experience of marrying her wife, she reignites the hope that marriage can indeed be a celebration of the bond that is willingly entered in to by two equals who love each other.' -- Jayne Ozanne
'Illuminated by wide reading, Lennon interweaves her own experience of marrying her wife in 2017 with past stories – like diarist Anne Lister’s private marriage ceremony in 1834. Lennon makes clear: ‘we remember that there is no one way… to live a marriage’.' -- Dr Jill Liddington, author of As Good as Marriage: The Anne Lister Diaries 1836–38
'A fascinating book, which treads a new path through the history of marriage from a feminist perspective, Wedded Wife is eminently readable, and in places, darkly funny. The prose is at once well-paced and reflective, as Lennon weaves her own personal experience of proposal and marriage into the narrative. There is something for everybody here, from the voices of those women in the past who dared to challenge their lot, to the surprisingly recent invention of much that we consider "traditional".' -- Chloe Duckworth, writer and presenter on The Great British Dig
'Lennon is adept at weaving together individual stories and historical records in a way that is simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking.' -- Rachel Cunliffe, New Statesman
'Lennon courageously lays bare the truth about our historical understanding of marriage, dispelling various fairytale myths and highlighting how it has often, through the centuries, subjugated generations of women. In drawing on her own experience of marrying her wife, she reignites the hope that marriage can indeed be a celebration of the bond that is willingly entered in to by two equals who love each other.' -- Jayne Ozanne
Rachael Lennon was the National Trust’s co-founder of the revisionist Challenging Histories programme which Clare Balding claimed “will change the way history is written and thought about from this point onwards”. Having grown up understanding that marriage was only for a man and a woman, she married her wife Claire in Northumberland in 2017 - just 3 years after the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the UK. Rachael lives in Durham with her wife and daughter.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780711267121 |
| ISBN 10 | 071126712X |
| Title | Wedded Wife |
| Author | Rachael Lennon |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Quarto Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2024-03-21 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |