Reviewed by wyvernfriend on
Little did she know what was going to happen next.
Andrew Robinson Stoney entered her life. He was a dashing soldier and when he had a duel over her honour and looked like he was a death's door she agreed to marry him. But it was all a lie. He recovered very quickly and proceeded to make her life a living hell. Beating her to unconsciousness (she describes in letters not being able to hear or see properly for a number of days after some of the beatings) forbidding her access to her gardens (and eventually ripping them out or selling them); parading his mistresses before her; raping the servants; starving her and generally being a horrible man.
One passage that stood out was a description by someone else about how she looked to him for permission to eat food offered to her. Permission he often denied. This man wanted full control over her and any other woman in his circle and was willing to do anything to create this. It reads sometimes like fiction but this is a true story.
Eventually Mary Elizabeth had an ally, a servant also called Mary who was horrified and helped her escape. These friends stood with her through the innumerable court cases, abduction and mud-slinging that Stoney engaged in until she won her freedom and Stoney's incarceration.
It's a riveting read, a moment in time where one woman stood up and said "enough" and started the ball rolling for more rights for women.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 17 March, 2010: Finished reading
- 17 March, 2010: Reviewed