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Wedlock
Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore | Wendy Moore
7 posts | 6 read | 7 to read
With the death of her fabulously wealthy coal magnate father when she was just eleven, Mary Eleanor Bowes became the richest heiress in Britain. An ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II, Mary grew to be a highly educated young woman, winning acclaim as a playwright and botanist. Courted by a bevy of eager suitors, at eighteen she married the handsome but aloof ninth Earl of Strathmore in a celebrated, if ultimately troubled, match that forged the Bowes Lyon name. Yet she stumbled headlong into scandal when, following her husbands early death, a charming young army hero flattered his way into the merry widows bed. Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney insisted on defending her honor in a duel, and Mary was convinced she had found true love. Judged by doctors to have been mortally wounded in the melee, Stoney persuaded Mary to grant his dying wish; four days later they were married. Sadly, the captain was not what he seemed. Staging a sudden and remarkable recovery, Stoney was revealed as a debt-ridden lieutenant, a fraudster, and a bully. Immediately taking control of Marys vast fortune, he squandered her wealth and embarked on a campaign of appalling violence and cruelty against his new bride. Finally, fearing for her life, Mary masterminded an audacious escape and challenged social conventions of the day by launching a suit for divorce. The English public was horrifiedand enthralled. But Marys troubles were far from over . . . Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray was inspired by Stoneys villainy to write The Luck of Barry Lyndon, which Stanley Kubrick turned into an Oscar-winning film. Based on exhaustive archival research, Wedlock is a thrilling and cinematic true story, ripped from the headlines of eighteenth-century England. From the Hardcover edition.
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Dogearedcopy
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#friyayintro

🏈 I love NFL football but will probably only watch to see the National Anthem play and the players kneel

🏈 High Temp is 64*F. It feels like Spring but I‘m wary.

🏈 I‘m picking away at the tagged book

🏈 Dream vacation: The Arctic and Antarctic before the ice all melts; Australia‘s Great Barrier Reef before it gets bleached down to nothing but rock; And Iceland.

🏈 Done :-)

jfalkens 6y
MelAnn ✋🏻 6y
No_One ✋🏼 6y
See All 7 Comments
hes7 🖐🏻 6y
BethFishReads Yes on the disappearing ice caps 6y
catebutler Your vacation spots are so cool! Love the thought behind both! 6y
30 likes7 comments
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Dogearedcopy
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I just unearthed another ARC from 2009! I got it from work, so thank goodness there‘s no pressure to review this on time! 😂

I dnloaded the ebook a couple of days ago and will start in on it tonight.

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zsuzsanna_reads
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Bailedbailed

The real-life story behind this biography is quite astounding. I did, however, become overwhelmed by the detailed descriptions of abuse, recorded at the time for the ensuing trial. Hence I just skipped forward to see how it ended. Not for me, but I have enjoyed Moore's other books. I would highly recommend The Perfect Wife.

zsuzsanna_reads And why is my image so grainy again 😕 7y
27 likes1 comment
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Pixelsmummy
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Three chapters into one of the most amazing biographies I have ever read. Totally captivated. Some times fact is stranger than fiction.

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Pixelsmummy
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Morning read. Who could resist that cover? Is expecting scandal and fireworks!

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Libby1
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Does a silhouette count for #BookFace ?

I haven't read this one yet but now that I'm looking at it again (after it's been languishing in my TBR for at least 3 years) I just might read it soon!

#ReadJanuary
@RealLifeReading

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deirdrebeecher
Pickpick

This is one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time. The true story at it's core, reads like a novel, a heiress, a duel, a kidnapping and a chasing pose. A villain who destroyed the lives of countless women, and treated his wife so terribly, the law was changed to free her from him. A vital moment in women's history, beautifully told.