As someone who studied the treatment of women in the past, and has written a dissertation on domestic violence in the early modern period, I am perhaps more interested in this than the average person. Even so, this is one of the most gripping books I have come across in a long time, and I would recommend it to anyone who has even a passing interest. It is fantastically researched and reads far more like a novel than non-fiction. Mary Eleanor Bowes is not a typical Georgian woman, but by looking at her Moore shows the reader what marriage was like in Britain in the 18th century. Mary Eleanor, a wealthy and sheltered heiress, was tricked into marrying a man far beneath her social status, and was then trapped in an abusive and violent marriage. Divorce was virtually impossible for a woman to obtain, even with evidence of adultery, neglect, violence and cruelty; in Georgian Britain ‘til death us do part’ was taken fairly literally. Moore manages to make the reader really care what happened to one historically insignificant individual, as much as the lead character in a bestselling novel. Granted, this does not help you a great deal for any of the AS or A Level courses at Littleheath; but if you do have an interest in history and want to read a genuinely good book, give it a go.
