Product Description

Just how weak were the women of the Civil War era? What could they expect beyond marriage and childbirth in an age where infant and maternal mortality was frequent and contraception unknown? Did anyone marry for love? Could a woman divorce? What rights had the unmarried? What expectations the widows? An expert on the period, Antonia Fraser brings to life the many and various women she has encountered in her considerable research: governesses, milkmaids, fishwives, nuns, defenders of castles, courtesans, countesses, witches and widows.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30630 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 728 pages

About the Author
Antonia Fraser has written many acclaimed historical works which have been international bestsellers, including MARIE ANTOINETTE, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (JAMES TAIT Prize), CROMWELL and THE GUNPOWDER PLOT (St Louis Literary Award; CWA NON-FICTION GOLD DAGGER). She was made CBE in 1999, and awarded the NORTON MEDLICOTT Medal by the Historical Association in 2000. She lives in London and is currently working on a biography of Queen Elizabeth I. She was married to Harold Pinter who died on Christmas Eve 2008 and has eighteen grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

An excellent insight into 17th Century life
This is one of the most readable and enlightening books that I have read about life in 17th Century England. Although this is a very comprehensive work it is very readable and, once begun, very difficult to put down. Although it primarily deals with the role of women in the 17th century, it balances this by putting that role in context with events taking place at the time. What I found particularly facinating is that the book managed to give an in-depth look at life at all levels of society. This is a book that, having read it from start to finish, I still dip into from time to time because it is just so interesting.

Very readable
I started reading Antonia Fraser's books after having read Gunpowder Plot. The Weaker Vessel is just as readble, and portrays the lives and characters of women from all walks of life, before, during and after the civil war. I think Ms Fraser is an amazing researcher, her books contain the most interesting facts all put together in pleasant prose which flows beautifully - so really it is like reading a novel rather than a work of pure fact (even though so many historical facts actually are included). Ms Fraser makes the female heroines of this novel come to life, for each lady discussed you feel genuine compassion, admiration, and sometimes disbelief at their feats of courage in the face of civil war. Included are excerpts from letters, diaries , etc which makes the account even more enjoyable. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in 17th century history or the history of women. One star less because I feel that the reader is not given an overall view of women in the 17th century - Antonia Fraser focuses on a handful of women, most of them extraordinarily courageous, but I do not think that the women in question were representative of the majority of women in Britain at the time.

A fascinating read.
You don't have to be a keen historian or a reader of "dry" books. This book is extremely well written and kept me really interested right to the end. It covers all aspects of women's role in society in the 17th century, from midwives, mistresses, whores, witches, middle-class wives and poor fishwives and deals with each backing up points of view with short written quotations. In fact it encouraged me to buy Samuel Pepys diary (you have to read it to believe it)!