Wedlock

January 19, 2009
How did a wealthy, self-absorbed adulteress who despised her eldest son and aborted three pregnancies by a man she didn't love, transform into a devoted mother and pioneer of women's liberty? British author Moore (The Knife Man
) examines this remarkable conversion in Mary Eleanor Bowes (1749–1800), England's richest heiress, whose impulsive marriage to a violent Irish fortune seeker revolutionized divorce in Georgian England. A published poet-playwright and accomplished botanist, Mary expected to live an indulgent life. Yet she was lured into marriage to army captain Andrew Robinson Stoney, who proved to be a rapist, liar, kidnapper and philanderer who half-starved and beat Mary into submission. Stoney's own best friend called him “inhuman and savage, without a countervailing quality.” Moore offers a well-informed if dispiriting glimpse into 18th-century marriage and the patriarchal legal and church systems as experienced by Mary—still her husband's property and financially supported by her devoted servants—as she fought to regain her fortune, her children and, especially, her status as a person.

January 15, 2009
Once the richest heiress in Britain, Mary Eleanor Bowes (17491800), ancestor of the current queen, was a highly intelligent and accomplished woman renowned as a gifted botanist and playwright. She nevertheless frequently exhibited poor judgment, particularly with regard to men. After Mary was widowed at age 27, there was no shortage of suitors vying for her hand in marriage. Debt ridden and a recent widower, Capt. Andrew Robinson Stoney staged a duel pretending to defend Mary's honor and feigned injury to procure Mary's sympathy. Convinced of his imminent death, Mary agreed to marry him even though she was betrothed to someone else. She was thereafter subjected to unimaginable cruelty, violence, and degradation at the hands of her husband and was kept as a virtual prisoner. In an era when domestic abuse was an accepted part of marital life, Stoney's inhumane treatment of Mary still shocked many. Eventually, Mary was able to escape her captor and successfully petitioned for divorce, which was difficult if not impossible for a woman to obtain at that time. Moore ("The Knife Man") skillfully depicts Mary's life with poignant detail in an exhaustively researched book that joins only a few works about Bowes. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.Carrie Benbow, Toronto P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2009
Cinematic in scope, this biography of Mary Eleanor Bowes reads like hair-raising fiction. After the untimely deaths of both her father and her useless first husband, Bowes, heiress to one of the largest fortunes in eighteenth-century England, fell prey to a crafty con man who tricked her into marrying him before revealing his true colors and his malicious intent. The ill treatment this privileged aristocrat suffered at the hands of her second husband was shockingly horrific, but the most unusual facet of this story is Marys remarkable response to her untenable situation. After enduring years of serial abuse, Mary broke all the rules of genteel Georgian society when she sued for a divorce. Marys plight and subsequent court case gripped the imagination of a spellbound nation, providing moral and legal precedents for other women similarly situated. This important and informative contribution to the history of feminism is recommended for most womens studies collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)