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    Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady
    Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady
    Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady
    Audiobook7 hours

    Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady

    Written by Kate Summerscale

    Narrated by Wanda McCaddon

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    "I think people marry far too much; it is such a lottery, and for a poor woman-bodily and morally the husband's slave-a very doubtful happiness." -Queen Victoria to her recently married daughter VickyHeadstrong, high-spirited, and already widowed, Isabella Walker became Mrs. Henry Robinson at age thirty-one in 1844. Her first husband had died suddenly, leaving his estate to a son from a previous marriage, so she inherited nothing. A successful civil engineer, Henry moved them, by then with two sons, to Edinburgh's elegant society in 1850. But Henry traveled often and was cold and remote when home, leaving Isabella to her fantasies.No doubt thousands of Victorian women faced the same circumstances, but Isabella chose to record her innermost thoughts-and especially her infatuation with a married Dr. Edward Lane-in her diary. Over five years the entries mounted-passionate, sensual, suggestive. One fateful day in 1858 Henry chanced on the diary and, broaching its privacy, read Isabella's intimate entries. Aghast at his wife's perceived infidelity, Henry petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery. Until that year, divorce had been illegal in England, the marital bond being a cornerstone of English life. Their trial would be a cause celebre, threatening the foundations of Victorian society with the specter of "a new and disturbing figure: a middle class wife who was restless, unhappy, avid for arousal." Her diary, read in court, was as explosive as Flaubert's Madame Bovary, just published in France but considered too scandalous to be translated into English until the 1880s.As she accomplished in her award-winning and bestselling The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, Kate Summerscale brilliantly recreates the Victorian world, chronicling in exquisite and compelling detail the life of Isabella Robinson, wherein the longings of a frustrated wife collided with a society clinging to rigid ideas about sanity, the boundaries of privacy, the institution of marriage, and female sexuality.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 19, 2012
    ISBN9781452678016
    Author

    Kate Summerscale

    Kate Summerscale is the author of the number one bestselling The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2008, winner of the Galaxy British Book of the Year Award, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and adapted into a major ITV drama. Her debut, The Queen of Whale Cay, won a Somerset Maugham award and was shortlisted for The Whitbread Biography Award. The Wicked Boy, published in 2016, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Her latest book, The Haunting of Alma Fielding, was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. She lives in north London.

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    Reviews for Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace

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    • 3/5
      I read this right after reading Mr. Briggs Hat, another non fiction book that relates events that occurred in Victorian England. While Mr. Briggs Hat told the story of the first railway carriage murder, Mrs. Robinson's ruminated on what it meant to be a woman and the state of marriage in Victorian England. As you can imagine we have come a long way. Interestingly both novels referenced Wilkie Collins A woman in White. It must be quite the hallmark book of the times.In Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace we are introduced to Isabella Robinson. She is a young widow with a small son when she marries Henry Robinson. At first she has high hopes for the marriage but most like most men Henry is grumpy and hard to please. He also takes all of her money and I think he cheats on her too. Although Isabella does her best to be a good wife and mother her thoughts turn towards a handsome family friend Dr. Edward Lane. Since she doesn't have to pick up his dirty underwear off of the floor and listen to his bitchin' and moaning he seems attractive to her, probably more so than if she had to actually live with him. She puts her scandalous thoughts about him into a diary. Whether the things she writes about in the diary actually occurred or were just in her imagining is up for some debate. Whatever the case, she and Dr. Lane will go on to deny every word. One day Isabella becomes very ill and while she is out of it her sneaky husband goes through her things and reads the diary. It is enough to bring Isabella to court on charges of adultery and he takes her sons away and files for divorce.Although Isabella came off as stupid and vapid some times, my sympathies definitely lay with her although she could have picked someone better to objectify than a married man with small children. Too many innocent people were hurt by her flirtations. Her choice of love interest seemed to be rectified in later life. Henry was portrayed as a real miserable piece of work and Dr. Lane alternated between oblivious and flirtatious. I felt sorry for his family but he seems to have known the score where Isabella was concerned. In addition to the story of Isabella and Henry there was some further padding with discussions of the Victorian notion of women and sexuality. All in all it was a good look into the Victorian family. As long as a woman was able to keep her unhappiness suppressed as well as her sexual desires everything was hunky dory. If she dared to try to take control of her life she was thought to be insane. This book made me feel sorry for Isabella who would have been better suited to find happiness if she had lived today.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace is one of those books which puts me right dead center, making it very difficult to review. So I'm going to split this review into two parts and leave it up to you to decide if this is a book that's up your alley.Story: The story here is fantastic. It's a lesson in feminism, a look at the issues and trials facing a bored housewife in a time where that is what a respectable lady was. Think Madame Bovary - but this time written by a woman and in such a way that tidbits of her diary are cropping up everywhere, allowing the reader to live in this sort of omnipresent place.The story is strong enough that it almost (ALMOST) overcomes what bothered me most about the book. I wanted to know everything there was to know about Mrs. Robinson. I wanted to know just how she fell in love, or lust, why she felt about her second-born the way she did, and many other secrets that get revealed through the course of the book. Those questions were enough to propel me through the book.Telling: This is where the book fell massively short for me - and I think had I not been a student recently, and preparing to be one again this fall, it would not have been quite so noticeable to me. That said, this entire novel read like a research paper - complete with quotes (although lacking citations). The telling was so dry and so researched-sounding, that it made me think I was reading an incredibly long presentation paper on the life of a Victorian woman.So, there's my two-sided review. I don't want to reveal to much in this review, because like I said earlier, Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace has an amazing story to tell.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Review from Badelynge.In Kate Summerscale's previous book The Suspicions of Mr Whicher the author demonstrated that if you are going to try marketing what was essentially an extended essay you could do worse than find a subject that included a notorious Victorian murder, family secrets and a celebrated Scotland Yard Detective. It was a massive bestseller. If you expected Summerscale to choose another such mystery, perhaps another murder and another dashing detective then you might be a little disappointed that this time the focus is on one of the most notable of the early divorce trials of the 1850s. Henry Robinson is a middle class businessman who discovers his wife's secret diary, the contents of which form the basis of his legal attempts to divorce her. The case hinges on whether the illicit affair detailed within the pages is truth or some elaborate fiction. Also on trial is the professional and personal reputation of the object of Mrs Robinson's obsession, Edward Lane, respected by the great and the good as a brilliant practitioner of hydrotherapy working from his clinic/spa at Moor Park. The verdict is less important, to the reader at least, than the study of a period of history focusing on social aspects like the law, marriage, health, class, family, sex, the psyche, morality, science and religion. Lane and Mrs Robinson have a large and eclectic circle of contacts and friends that reach deep into British literary circles and the Victorian scientific intelligentsia; Darwin is one of Lane's patients and George Combe, a proponent of phrenology, is a frequent correspondent of them both. Sumerscale melds the different sources into the essay with care and the proper focus for the themes explored. The tone is certainly engaging and never dry. As a slice of social history the book works very well. It might be the case that some people might be more inclined to read the diaries in question and make their own mind up without Summerscales commentary but as a fuller snapshot of the times Mrs Robinson's disgrace would be my choice. Divorce case aside the book also celebrates the early history of diaries, their place in the British home and like the crux of the trial, the line between factual journal and their place among fiction as entertainment.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      ‘Mrs. Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady’ by Kate Summerscale is a beautifully written piece of literature reminiscent of, I’m sure many of the women in Victorian London during the nineteenth century; a time when women had little rights and the men controlled most aspects of their lives. Isabella Robinson is a married woman who finds herself wishing for a far different life, one with love. These desires lead her to compose her daily thoughts and musings in a private diary. What she writes was never intended for any other eyes to read but when her Husband finds and reads the intimate entries, he charges her with infidelity and petitions the courts for a divorce on the grounds of adultery; her diary on display for all to see. Whether or not her love affair was real or just the vivid imaginings of an unhappy women, longing for love and romance is yours to discover. An engrossing read well worth your time. Enjoy! Thank you Goodreads for this advanced copy!
    • 4/5
      Author: Kate Summerscale Published By: Walker & company Age Recommend: Adult Reviewed By: Arlena Dean Raven Rating: 4 Blog Review For: GMTA Review: "Mrs. Robertson's Disgrace" by Kate Summerscale was a very interesting read. There was a lot of Victorian history that this author used in her story to make it really unique in more ways than one. Truly Isabella Robinson was a really interesting person that kept you wanting to know just what she was going to write in that diary of hers. Kate was a middle class wife that was very lonely woman and having a husband like Henry Robinson who was cold to her only could lead Isabella to do what she did best and that was to write her fantasies in her private diary. Were these fantasies real? Henry was from the Edinburgh's society and worked and traveled away from home. It was very interested how the author was able to bring in the character Dr. Edward Lane who Isabella was infatuated with. This had been going on for five years....(this comes from her dairy). What is to be made of this? Well, Henry finds this diary with all on its intimates of Kates' sexual interests and petitions the court for a divorce for reasons of adultery. This trial was very interesting in itself. ...for you will just have to read this great novel to see out it turns out. Be prepared for a long and detailed read ...sometimes I got a little lost and had to back up a bit, but in the end this novel was a read that proved to be quite interesting especially due to the fact that divorce had been illegal in England at this time. Plus the main fact was that Mrs. Robinson's diary was read in open court. WoW! I will not let you know the outcome but it was interesting to find out just how all of this comes out. It is really worth the read. It will keep you turning the page to see what is going out next. If you are into Victorian history setting back in 1850's you will love this novel "Mrs. Robertson's Disgrace" and I would recommend this for a good read.
    • 4/5
      As I’ve come to expect from Kate Summerscale (author of the acclaimed The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher), Mrs. Roginson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady, is an engaging work of nonfiction that delves into the most private moments of family life. Summerscale investigates the 1850s divorce case brought by Henry Robinson, a middle-class businessman, against his wife Isabella in the earliest years of the newly constituted Divorce Court in London. At that time, “[m]arriage was the subject of much contemporary debate.” The only piece of evidence in the divorce case is Isabella’s diary, which records her side of a love affair with a family friend. As an intelligent woman trapped in a repressive marriage, Isabella used her diary “to understand her alienated, conflicting self from the outside in, to get inside her own head and under her own skin.” During the trial, every private word in Isabella’s diary is dissected and analyzed. I won’t reveal the ultimate verdict, but the reader is struck by the power of Isabella’s words along with the suffocating effect of her society. Summerscale’s informed account of this historical episode draws extensively form the court record as well as the context of the times without becoming overly pedantic. Mrs. Robinson’s Disgrace is as much an enlightening analysis of Victorian views of marriage and sex as it is an account of a particular case of probable adultery. Recommended for those readers who enjoy narrative nonfiction.
    • 4/5
      Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace is a compelling read for those who are interested in women's rights throughout history, and those who enjoy studying the inner lives of others.Isabella Walker was a young widow with a child when she married Henry Robinson in 1844. Too late she realized that Henry was a cold husband, who often traveled and left her and the children alone. She began a friendship with a neighboring family, and became infatuated with the married Dr. Lane.She chose to record her feelings for Dr. Lane, and other men, in her journal. Her husband eventually found the journal and took her to divorce court for adultery. Divorce was not very common at the time, and Mrs. Robinson's diary caused quite a sensation in the newspapers. But what would the court decide? Was her journal based on fact or based on her vivid imagination? My only complaint was that in a few places I found it a bit dry, when the author was discussing historical details. The parts about Isabella, however, I found fascinating.Mrs. Robinson was an intelligent woman with excellent writing ability, who was ahead of her time in many ways. It is intriguing to read her story and see just how far society has come since her time.(I received this book through Amazon's Vine Program.)
    • 4/5
      I read this book a few months back (can't believe I didn't review it straight away as I enjoyed it immensely), around the time if you got on a London train it was with about five other women reading Fifty Shades of Grey. Set during a particularly difficult time for women (sexually, socially, legally, psychologically - you'd think a female monarch might have eased the way for change or something?), this is the story of Isabella Robinson, an unhappily married middle-class woman who found herself in the middle of divorce proceedings brought on by a rather despicable husband, one who was not exactly a paragon of virtue himself.

      Not that his infidelity mattered because this was an era of double-standards where women were meant to live up to high expectation, whilst being looked upon as mental midgets liable to faint of the vapours at any given moment. Henry Robinson quite mercilessly drags his wife through a fresh and young divorce court, using her diaries as ?evidence? of her infidelity, for revenge and to suck on her finances some more.

      It?s a bit of a sad story really, easy to mistake as a gothic romance gone bad. Isabella?s crime seems to be boredom and a lack of direction for her intelligence, imagination and passions. Added to this is being married to a right old bastard and falling for the wrong man, subsequently having all her dirty laundry aired rather publicly. Even the way her husband discovers her secret is right out of a Bronte novel. So for this reason, despite the tragedy of the tale, I did read it with the kind of morbid glee you would reserve for a miserable gothic tale.

      Having said that, I didn?t find Summerscale?s telling of the tale to be skewed in anyone?s favour. I found it to be quite balanced in depicting the experiences of both Robinsons. If Isabella comes across as the more sympathetic of the ?characters?, it?s simply because the odds were stacked against her like any woman in her position at that time (and the future if present politics across the world keep up the regression).

      A very good read.
    • 3/5
      This is a book about repression and control in English Victorian society. Like its central character it is dull and lacks liveliness. There is little insight here.
    • 4/5
      I found this book ultimately unsatisfying. In the end it all falls apart as you realize that the author doesn't really know what happened, and doesn't even have the full text of the famous diary. Mrs. Robinson's life after the divorce case is just dimly outlined. I think a novelist could have had a lot of fun with this, but there just plain wasn't enough solid information for a biographical work. In stead it is padded with trivia that isn't to the point.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed Kate Summerscale's earlier book 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher'. She consolidates her reputation for me with this absorbing account of a Victorian lady's fall from respectable affluence to disgrace as a result not so much of her sexual appetite but her obsession with writing about it in a diary which could easily be found by her monstrous husband; and inevitably was.Summerscale tends to her prose like a diligent gardener; it is well-kempt and unfussy, attractive without being showy, and provides something new of interest at every turn. Nor does she leave her tools on the lawn as so many historian-gardeners do - the details of her extensive research are kept neatly in the notes section at the back so as not to interrupt the flow of the story.While Isabella Robinson's emotions and psychology form the core of interest, there is plenty of rewarding diversion along the way. We learn a good deal of the ways, habits and foibles of mid Victorian upper-middle class society, which confirms so much of what we may have discovered in the fictional worlds of E M Forster and others. The status of women as 'chattels' to their husbands becomes starkly apparent in the way Isabella is economically 'stripped' by her husband. (I'm sure most readers will have shared my longing for Henry to have his come-uppance, but I won't spoil things for new readers by revealing whether or not this happens.) The later chapters of the book are fascinating too for their treatment of the changing legal system in England, and the consequences of decisions made in court.As with 'Mr Whicher' Kate Summerscale turns the trick of making us think of these real-life subjects as characters in a novel, and in so doing takes us through all the emotions, identifications, lows and highs that we would normally expect in fiction. The paradox is that they become more real and immediate as a consequence than they might have seemed had the author supplied a drier historical account. This narrative technique certainly works for me and, judging by the popularity of Summerscale's books, for many other readers too.
    • 5/5
      Well researched and detailed study of British double standards in marriage and divorce
    • 4/5
      I knew of Kate Summerscale from her book, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. This book is about a Victorian woman, Isabella Robinson, and how her private diary was used by her husband to prosecute a divorce. The Robinsons, Henry and Isabella, are an upper middle class family. Isabella meets Edward Lane and writes in her diary about how attracted she is to him. They take evening walks together and have several encounters that are vaguely but romantically described and may imply that they actually have sex. Or maybe not. But probably. So when Isabella gets sick, her husband Henry reads the diary and then decides to use it to attain a divorce. In the end, the divorce is not granted (well, not this trial of it - they later get a divorce based on a subsequent affair) but the book becomes about so much more than this one couple's experience. Summerscale uses their loveless marriage to explore women's issues such as the comical beliefs (at least from this remove) around sexual appetites and what they mean - usually that if you have any interest in sex you're insane or have some sort of uterine disease. This is certainly the belief about women, but extends to men at least a bit as well. Summerscale also details the changing divorce laws. The Robinsons were one of the first couples heard in a new divorce court which loosened the rules for granting a divorce and made is much less expensive. By the way, no one cared that Henry had been cheating on Isabella for basically their whole marriage, even fathering several illegitimate children. Also, much of the diary was published in the newspapers leading to discussions of journaling in the Victorian era, both in fiction and in the life of everyday women. Imagine, though, having your private journal which may or may not have been entirely true but certainly involved real people that you saw on a daily basis published for all to see. Isabella used her diary as her defense though. Instead of trying to prove that she didn't have an affair, she tried to claim insanity through her diary. Her sexual yearnings were proof in the Victorian era that she was insane. Overall, I found this book very entertaining but it made me glad I wasn't a Victorian era woman.
    • 3/5
      In Mrs Robinson's Disgrace, Kate Summerscale explores a high profile 19th-century court case, just after England passed laws permitting married couples to divorce. Isabella Robinson's husband Henry brought the case against her, using her diary as the chief source of evidence. But how reliable was her account? By 21st-century standards, she was the victim -- her crime being that of seeking companionship and sexual satisfaction not possible in her loveless marriage. But the laws and culture stigmatized women who expressed desires, and the public was shocked by her wanton behavior.This specific divorce case was an interesting way to shed light on one aspect of women's rights in the Victorian era, and it also described how divorce laws evolved during the time it was working its way through the courts. The book lacked the suspense of Summerscale's previous book, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, which read much like a true crime novel. As a result, Mrs Robinson's Disgrace was not quite as captivating, but still a passably interesting way to learn about this period in history.
    • 4/5
      In Mrs Robinson's Disgrace Kate Summerscale brings us another account of intrigue and betrayal in Victorian England; no murder this time but plenty of adultery, divorce and madness.The background to this account is the change in the rules surrounding divorce which occurred in 1858. Before this new law the divorce process itself was far too expensive for anyone other than the very rich upper classes to be able to afford - a marriage could only be dissolved by an Act of Parliament. With the new 1858 law the process was simplified and became affordable for the middle-class. A new court was set up to dissolve marriages, The Court of Divorce and Matrimonial Causes although proving the grounds for a divorce was still difficult. A man had to prove his wife had been guilty of adultery, a woman had to prove her husband had been guilty of two matrimonial offences: she had to prove he had been unfaithful and that he was also guilty of desertion, cruelty or sexual misdeeds such as bigamy, incest, bestiality, rape or sodomy.One of the first cases to be heard by the new court was the case of Henry and Isabella Robinson. Henry Robinson was petitioning for divorce on the grounds of his wife's adultery. His proof: her diary. In the book Summerscale describes the diary as 'detailed, sensual, alternately anguished and euphoric, more godless and abandoned than anything in contemporary English fiction' but the use of someone's diary as evidence against them was an unprecedented one. What the court had to decide was whether her diaries contained a true account of the events that took place or whether they were the deluded writings of an unstable mind.The first half of the book covers the period leading up to the trial and Summerscale attempts to piece together what happened between Isabella Robinson and Edward Lane, the man with whom she was accused of having an affair, as well as to paint a picture of Isabella's unhappy marriage using extracts from her diary. The second half of the book covers the trial itself and the arguments used by the prosecution and defence lawyers as well as the final verdict. The parts I found most interesting were the side matters Summerscale had to explain so that the trial and its proceedings made sense. Victorian views on sex and sexuality for both men and women, insanity, women's health and the science of phrenology all made for some fascinating reading. I also enjoyed the sections where Summerscale touches on the potential influence of this trial in the contemporary literature of the period: both in novels that feature diaries by authors such as Wilkie Collins to the portrayal of dissatisfied wives in the sensation novels of the 1860s.I really enjoyed this and found it very helpful in understanding the background to novels published in the years following this case but I'm not sure whether this book might come across as a bit dry to someone who's not already interested in the period.
    • 5/5
      I feel so bad for mrs. Robinson. I know this is only one side of the story, but if you like juicy historical scandal, you will enjoy this.
    • 4/5
      Where I got the book: e-ARC from NetGalley.I'm sort of hovering between 4 and 5 stars for this one, but I'm settling for 4 because it took me a little while to get into this book. Summerscale's deadpan reporting voice has the happy effect that the author disappears from the narrative leaving the characters to speak for themselves, but this also means you have to get to know the characters before you can get engaged so the first 50 pages can be tough. I had the same problem with The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher.This is the true story of Isabella Robinson, a frustrated mother and wife with, evidently, too much time on her hands. Her husband is a controlling bully in true Victorian paterfamilias style, often absent from the home and, one suspects, from the marital bed. So Isabella's eyes rove...and so does her pen, in the form of a diary in which she recounts her obsessions with various men of her acquaintance. When one of her attempts at conquest appears to succeed, Isabella tells all to Dear Diary...and husband Henry finds out. He drags Isabella and her supposed lover into the newly formed Divorce Court, and the diary becomes the centerpiece of a well-publicized scandal.Oh, those Victorians! This book is a treasury of Victorian naughtiness and prudery hand in hand, as Summerscale unearths skeletons in more than one closet. Charles Darwin makes a few appearances, as does George Eliot and dear old Dickens. If you're a student of the era you'll find many delights, including a slew of eccentric Victorian names (Sir Cresswell Cresswell, anyone?) There is also some thoughtful reflection on, and elucidation of, the position of a middle-class wife in a society where double standards were an everyday experience. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      True story of one of the first divorces in England. A few to many characters in the beginning (I had to make a chart.) Did not realize it was a true story when I started, was more interested when I found out it was. Good reader.
    • 4/5
      The Suspicions of Mr Whicher was such a fantastic book, that writing the follow-up was always going to be hard. Kate Summerscale has more or less pulled this off with her story of a scandalous Victorian divorce case.She did nearly lose me though, I'm not a fan of Madame Bovary so when, in the first part of the book, she compares Isabella Robinson to Emma Bovary I had to force myself to continue to read, and I'm glad that I did as the Isabella Robinson revealed by her diaries is a fascinatingly complex creature and far more interesting than Emma Bovary.For the divorce court, the question at the heart of the case is whether or not Mrs Robinson was unfaithful to her husband with Edward Lane. For me as a reader this question is almost irrelevant as the Summerscale uses her story to explore the hypocrisies of mid-Victorian society, how Isabella was put on public trial, while the courts ignored the evidence of her husband’s adultery and how the press reported the case, branding her journal ‘freakish’. But the saddest thing is probably Isabella’s own reaction to the reading of her diary. Strictly under English law her husband hadn’t done anything wrong, Isabella’s papers, no matter how personal, were his property, so he had the right to read them, and to use what he found within those pages in the case. But her reaction to the unauthorised reading and publication of her diaries is very modern, when she writes of their using ‘curious, unchivalrous, ignoble hands’.As with the murder case in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, this divorce case captured the public imagination and inspired writers of popular fiction,the scene in The Woman in White where Count Fosco reads the ill Marian's diary is probably the most directly inspired.Fascinating.
    • 3/5
      I found this a little hard to get through at times but it was still interesting to read about one of the first women in England to be sued for divorce.
    • 1/5
      Summerscale overwhelms this book with details that have absolutely nothing to do with the actual story. Famous people of the day and their flatulence problems etc. Research is commendable to a certain point. Overdone and it starts to feel like maybe the author just can't tell a story. Gave up halfway through, just too boring.
    • 4/5
      The thing I love about Summerscale's books is that she gets out of the way and lets the story she's telling do all the work. You have to know a little bit about what she's talking about - this is a poor introduction to gender in Victorian England - but once you do, she just brings all the little pieces of it out into the light and lets you look at it and draw your own conclusions.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating read! Quite an interesting look into the life of a Victorian Lady. Not necessarily an idyllic vision but certainly more accurate than most fictional accounts of the time.
    • 3/5
      this was an interesting revelation of victorian attitudes to women and sex but it was slow(226 pages) and boring. i don't think i'm a fan of Summerscale(except of her name.) i found mr. whiter slow going too. she seems to take forever getting to her point.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating read! Quite an interesting look into the life of a Victorian Lady. Not necessarily an idyllic vision but certainly more accurate than most fictional accounts of the time.
    • 4/5
      Isabella Robinson was a housewife in the mid-19th century. Her husband moved her and their family to Edinburgh, where she met Edward Lane, a doctor who specialized in hydrotherapy (Charles Darwin was one of his patients and supporters later on). Although Dr. Lane was married, Isabella began spending a lot of time with him. She began keeping a diary, detailing her friendship/relationship (real or imagined) with him. When Isabella fell ill, her husband found her diary and began divorce proceedings against her. The diaries were nearly pornographic in nature (the women in the courtroom had to be cleared out before the diaries were read) and indicate a woman who was caught up in her emotions as well as had a strong sex drive.These are the broad strokes of a fascinating incident—almost a blip in history, but related to so many other, bigger events. In the 1850s, a new Court of Divorce and Matrimonial Causes was created in order to expedite the process of divorce and make it cheaper and therefore more accessible to more people. Prior to the new law, Henry Robinson, as a middle-class businessman, would probably not have been able to afford a divorce.Isabella was interested in phrenology; her analyst had discovered that a part of her skull indicated that she had a strong sex drive—and important part of her case. The third social event that had relevance to Isabella’s case was the huge growth in diary-writing in the middle of the 19th century—as well as the rise of the diary-format novel. Isabella Robinson wrote poetry as well; could she have allowed her imagination to get away with her in the pages of her diary? “In the loneliness of her marriage, ‘what was my resource?’ she asked. ‘What my consolation? Solitude & my pen. Here I lived in a world of my own, one that scarcely any one ever entered. I felt that in my own study, at least, I was a ruler; & tall I wrote was my own.’” (p. 167). Imagine how Isabella must have felt, then, to have her diaries disseminated and read by many.From this book, we don’t get to see much of Isabella herself. It’s hard to get a clear picture of her in her own words because the originals of her diaries are lost. All that’s left are the 9000 words or so that were reprinted in the newspapers. I wish that the author had included more of the diaries, though, instead of quoting outside sources, such as contemporary novels, so much. While contemporary fiction serves to illustrate the mores of a society as a whole, I felt that the author relied on them too much in this book as filler. Because the diaries are so sparse, the reader has to read between the lines about what was really going on. I judged Isabella to be quite hysterical, imaginative, selfish, narcissistic, a bad judge of character, ruled by her own emotions, narrow-minded, and stubborn. So she doesn’t come across well at all, which made it hard to really empathize with her.What’s also unclear is Edward Lane’s frame of mind (though one can imagine). Isabella Robinson also came on to her sons’ two tutors, both men much younger than she was. It’s not said explicitly, but her behavior towards them was presumably very embarrassing—although Isabella was totally blind to the fact. She was also very blind to Dr. Lane’s attitude towards her; at times he tried to pull away from her. But it’s a sad underlying message that although Dr. Lane spent a lot of time trying to preserve his own professional and personal reputation, neither he—or Henry Robinson—tried to help Isabella when the time came for it. My view is that Isabella got everything she deserved, but I think that this fact illustrates the way that people viewed reputations in Victorian society. What this book also illustrates is Victorian attitudes towards sex. Mrs. Robinson’s case hinged on the defense of insanity (uterine disease), which brought on sexual delusions.In all, I enjoyed this book; it seemed a little bit short, though, more of a case study as opposed to being full-book-length. But I think it’s an interesting view into a little-known historical incident that had so many connections and connotations to Victorian social history.
    • 4/5
      Summerscale definitely has the knack of making nonfiction readable for all, not dry as so many are.Once again I am so glad that I did not live back than, woman had absolutely no rights of their own and Mrs. Robinson's husband was not a very nice man at all. The Victorian legal system, the books that the system tried to suppress, how little upper class woman had to do if they wanted to challenge their minds, their complete dependance on the males in their lives are all highlighted in this very interesting book. Her diary being read in public and used by her husband in a divorce action was such an invasion of privacy, I felt so very sorry for this poor woman who stood to lose everything including her children. Will appeal to those fascinated by Victorian society, woman;s rights and the legal system.
    • 4/5
      A well-researched microhistorical take on a particular divorce case in Victorian England, featuring Isabella Robinson and her salacious diary. Summerscale uses the case study to excellent effect, and the book is very readable and interesting as it delves into not only the specific case, but also the English ways of divorce, diary-writing, hydrotherapy, &c.