The prolific Lady Antonia Fraser has long been drawn to formidable — and tragic — women, starting with her first biography, of Mary Stuart, more than half a century ago. In the last decade, she has focused on the social upheavals of the early 19th century, writing books on the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the fight for Catholic Emancipation in 1829. She thus perhaps sometimes assumes a little too much knowledge of a reader coming fresh to the period. But Fraser’s skill and passion override all, and in The Case of the Married Woman, she renders her subject a woman of dignity, depth and character. Here we meet a heroine, one who fought for herself, for her children, and for all women and children.
Fraser gives insightful judgment on the questions that remain questions despite Caroline’s extensive archive ... Fraser’s is a spirited book, particularly moving on Norton’s old age. It is impressive to see one of our most important intellectual figures turning her mind to this remarkable woman from an earlier, different and not so different era. I would recommend Diane Atkinson’s longer, 2012 biography for anyone who wants to get to know Norton and her campaigns in detail. Both writers are sensitive readers of her own writing, and are judicious in the face of her frequent assertions of male superiority ... Fraser seems on the whole to think that the feminists have now succeeded, but I’m inclined to agree with Atkinson’s suggestion that it’s a story that reveals that not enough has changed.
The life of Caroline Norton, the 19th century author and campaigner who is the remarkable subject of Antonia Fraser’s engaging new biography The Case of the Married Woman, plays out like a Victorian sensation novel ... It’s a fascinating story, and Fraser’s account is compulsively readable, filled with intriguing period details ... A fitting tribute to a captivating, campaigning heroine.
In Ms. Fraser’s clear-eyed telling, Caroline Norton remains a woman of her time, rather than a heroine for ours, and the progress she championed was limited. Even in her rage and grief, she did not question the ideology of separate spheres or the power of femininity to sway men’s judgments. Yet her willingness to mine her own life to advocate for social change was startlingly modern. She made the personal political, facing down scandal to make it clear that her husband had wronged her and that the law had allowed him to do it. It was, at least, a beginning.
There have been other books about Caroline Norton, but Fraser’s is the first to emphasise what a modern figure she is, portraying her not as a hapless victim but as a working mother and bestselling writer who refused to submit to what can only be called the patriarchy — a 'difficult' woman whose bloodymindedness improved the lot of other women. Fraser is surely right to call her a 19th-century heroine.
Antonia Fraser is particularly good on Caroline Norton as a professional writer, a topic that tends to get buried ... Fraser’s generous and humane biography is a reminder that Caroline Norton was much more than either a pioneer in legal reform, or a demi-mondaine who kept the gossip writers going.
Captivating ... With engrossing detail, The Case of the Married Woman recounts actual scandals, romances, tragedies, and triumphs. Few fictional heroines could rival Caroline Norton’s shrewd defiance: she used her charm and writing talent to lobby for British women in matters of divorce, property, and child custody ... A historical delight.
Esteemed historian Fraser...turns her eye to the lesser-known yet impactful Caroline Norton ... Drawing from Caroline’s letters and other contemporary texts, Fraser shines a light on the struggles Caroline endured in her efforts to reunite with her children and navigate her financial status within a system that granted control of all of her funds, even money she earned with her pen, to her estranged husband as she maintained a successful career as a writer. Enlightening and inspiring.
This engagingly written, rigorously researched book will appeal to both feminist historians and readers who enjoy well-crafted portraits of historical figures who deserve more attention ... An intelligently illuminating biography and cultural history.
Informative ... Fraser’s vivid character sketches and incisive analysis of legal, political, and rhetorical matters result in a winning study of an indefatigable crusader who turned a personal tragedy into a public triumph.
