A Scandalous Woman: The Story of Caroline Norton

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Biography
Review: Chedzoy does a very good job bring the story of Caroline Norton to life. While very accurate, Chedzoy avoids the common tendency of biographers to dwell on dates and times but focuses instead on Caroline's actual life, which was remarkable. She was born into a family situation which forced her to marry a man which she did not love, and he soon became physically abusive to her. She was close friends with William Melbourne, who became Prime Minister of England, and her husband accused her of "criminal conversation" (a euphemism for adultery) even though he knew very well that this was completely untrue. Caroline's husband eventually took her three children from her and would not allow them to be returned to her until one of them died due to poor medical treatment. In retaliation, Caroline went to Parliament and over the course of a few years reformed the British laws for women. Overall, this was a very good book, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in women's rights, poetry and literature (Caroline wrote many poems and novels-- during her life, she was compared to Byron and thought of as more talented that E.B. Browning), or English history in general.