Children of Disobedience: The Love Story of Martin Luther and Katharina Von Bora

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding research on Kathe von Bora and a good read
Review: I bought this book out of research interest in Luther's life, but ended up not being able to release it before I was finished. Having done extensive research on Martin Luther, with special emphasis on his music, I can say that facts about which I have background check with those Asta Scheib presents. She points out in her forward that she spent many years researching the relationship between Martin and his redoubtable Kati. The difficulties in addressing rare private details of this very public man were no doubt formidable more than 450 years later. Sure she takes risks, but sometimes responsible writers of "enhanced" biographies or biography-based fiction can get "closer to the edge" of knowledge than historians who know more than they feel they can tell with professional standards. Her main thesis is that this gutsy ex-nun, Katharina, took bold initiatives with ex-monk Martin Luther and converted a workaholic, male chauvinist scholar and revolutionary into (eventually) a happily married man. After a rocky start, Luther - probably accurately - deferred to her in all things domestic, and even some things beyond.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Perspective
Review: This was a good book. I enjoyed learning the minutia of life in the 1500s and learning about Luther from Katarina's perspective. I'm not Lutheran, so knew little about his history. I was curious about the sexual innuendos about Katie and Ave...seemed a little gratuitous to me - and may be offensive to Lutherans, but I would certainly recommend this book to others.