![]() ![]() ![]() Sievens has shown considerable sensitivity and acuity, as well as diligence in the pre-digitized days, in her approach to these fascinating sources. This is a terrific source that illuminates marriage, gender, law, print culture, and community in early America. She also clearly demonstrates that legal change lagged behind cultural change, leaving husbands frustrated by their inability to rule." -"William & Mary Quarterly", "Sievens shows how even when free of their marriages, women often remained dependent on male kin." -"The Chronicle of Higher Education", "Sievens focuses on a rich and under-used source: the ads that appeared in early American newspapers alerting readers not to extend credit to run-away wives, as well as occasional replies made by wives themselves. ![]() Sievens's nuanced argument about power and interdependence within marriage is absolutely convincing. "Stray Wives" is full of creative research and compelling new insights about marriage in early national America. A fascinating and complex account of husbands struggling to assert their legal dominance in a changing cultural landscape, while law remained static. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |