Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 909
EAN num: 9781842126356
ISBN number: 1842126350
Label: Weidenfeld & Nicolson History
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld & Nicolson History
Page Count: 640
Printing Date: August 01, 2002
Publishing house: Weidenfeld & Nicolson History
Sale Popularity Level: 822479
Studio: Weidenfeld & Nicolson History
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Amazon.com:
Drawing from a wondrously deep well of diaries, letters, and papers from 17th-century England, the gifted historian Antonia Fraser gives the image of the 'softer sex' a drubbing, plunging readers into the lives of 'heiresses and dairy maids, holy women and prostitutes, criminals and educators, widows and witches, midwives and mothers, heroines, courtesans, prophetesses, businesswomen, ladies of the court, and that new breed, the actress.' Prophetess Jane Hawkins, called 'a witty crafty baggage' by one angry bishop, got around the ironclad law forbidding women to preach by claiming inspiration from God, while Catholic Mary Ward risked her neck repeatedly to found a string of convents and schools for girls on the European continent. Although several good wives of London beat the Lord Mayor in 1649 for his part in trying to arrest five members of Parliament, it's certainly true that most Englishwomen of the time were hemmed in by the whims and fears of men. Wealthy girls were routinely used as chips to bolster family fortunes through marriage, and any old, poor woman unfortunate enough to have 'a furred brow, a hairy lip, a squint eye, a squeaking voice or a scolding tongue' lived under suspicion of witchcraft, wrote one contemporary observer. In Fraser's sure hands and supple prose, memorable and execrable historic moments spring to life. --Francesca Coltrera
Brief Book Summary:
Just how weak were the women of the Civil War era? What could they expect beyond marriage and childbirth in an age where infant and maternal mortality was frequent and contraception unknown? Did anyone marry for love? Could a woman divorce? What rights had the unmarried? What expectations the widows?
An expert on the period, Antonia Fraser brings to life the many and various women she has encountered in her considerable research: governesses, milkmaids, fishwives, nuns, defenders of castles, courtesans, countesses, witches and widows.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I love Antonia Fraser's writing, but this is an extremely hard book to get through. The book relies upon a knowledge of 17th Century English history and so I had to delay reading it since the very first time I picked it up my knowledge of the English Civil War was sketchy. I appreciated it more after reading other biographies but still took a while to get through. Not her best.
Rated by buyers 
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This is exactly the kind of women's history book that we need. Fraser's writing style is perfect for her subject, the lives of women in 17th-century England. She covers various aspects of women's lives: Political, domestic, social, professional, spiritual. We meet many remarkable women, such as Rachel, Lady Russell, who fought hard to save her husband William from execution; Catherine Sedley, the witty and strong-minded mistress of James II; Elizabeth Barry, beloved actress. Fraser includes all sorts of trivia without detracting from her main theme, an accomplishment in itself. Will she write more books like this? I hope so.
Rated by buyers -
A very good book, well written and very interesting. It provides the reader with information about Seventeenth Century women from every class, noble and peasants alike. Every girl should read it. It will give them much more self-consciousness than 30 feminist treatises!
Rated by buyers -
It relates to the women in 17th Century England and the times they endured, torn down by the "stereotypical" views of what women of yesterday think. Women of the 17th Century carried a role within the society in which they were able to stand up, to be a woman. They were able to lift their heads despite what the men had said of the time period. Women were able to gain custody of their children, marry the man they love and become much more of a customary woman that what had been perceived. Antonia Fraser's historically written book justifies the idea that women truly played a role within the society that was not forfeited. The question she had asked, "were there women in the 17th century?" Yes, yes there were, and Antonia Fraser proved it. Historically, in a fictional manner in a non-fiction piece.
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