How to Create the Perfect Wife - Rilegato

Moore, Wendy

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0297863789 ISBN 13: 9780297863786

Casa editrice: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013

Riassunto

London, spring 1769. Like many people, Thomas Day dreamed of meeting the perfect partner. In fact, Day knew exactly the type of woman he wanted to marry. Pure and virginal yet tough and hardy, uncorrupted by society yet fully schooled in the discoveries of the day, she would share his dream of living in rural seclusion, attending to his every whim. As the heir to a sizeable fortune and a student of law at Middle Temple, Day may have seemed something of a catch. However his rather extreme views on female virtue and his disregard for social conventions, not to mention his unorthodox approach to personal hygiene, meant that the ladies of Georgian society did not come flocking. Before long Day came to the conclusion that none of the women he met in elegant drawing rooms would ever live up the vision of the ideal woman he had constructed from his reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's scandalous book Emile. So, in true Pygmalion style, he hit on the idea of creating the perfect wife. With this daring plan in mind, he invoked the help of his dazzling circle of friends, including such luminaries as Erasmus Darwin, Richard Lovell Edgeworth and the sharp-tongued Anna Seward. In How to Create the Perfect Wife, acclaimed biographer Wendy Moore tells the story of this bizarre social experiment, illuminating the radicalism - and deep contradictions - that lay at the heart of this most fascinating period.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull'autore

Wendy Moore is a freelance journalist and author. Her work has been published in numerous national newspapers and magazines and has won several awards. Her first book THE KNIFE MAN won the MEDICAL JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION CONSUMER BOOK AWARD in 2005 and was shortlisted for both SALTIRE and the MARCH BIOGRAPHY AWARDS. It is currently being adapted for for television by David Cronenberg. Her second book, WEDLOCK has been highly acclaimed and was chosen for the Channel 4 TV Book Club. She lives in London with her husband and two children.

http://wendymoore.org/

https://twitter.com/wendymoore99

Dalla quarta di copertina

Praise for Wedlock

'A gripping story, brilliantly told' Amanda Foreman

'Wedlock is the best biography I have read in a long time. It's gripping, addictive and painstakingly researched. The book works on many levels - it's not just a tale of evil but also one of humanity and loyalty'
Mail on Sunday

'A contemporary paced tale of wealth, status and privilege, laced with lust, greed, pride and more than a smattering of gratuitous violence' The Times

'Mesmerising ... Wedlock reads like a cross between Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and the Gothic horrors so popular at that time' Financial Times

'As gripping as a novel' Daily Telegraph

Dal risvolto di copertina interno

London, spring 1769. Like many people, Thomas Day dreamed of meeting the perfect partner. In fact, Day knew exactly the type of woman who wanted to marry. Pure and virginal yet tough and hardy, uncorrupted by society yet fully schooled in the discoveries of the day, she would share his dream of living in rural seclusion, attending to his every whim.

As the heir to a sizeable fortune and a student of law at Middle Temple, Day may have seemed something of a catch. However his rather extreme views on female virtueand his disregard for social conventions, not to mention his unorthodox approach to personal hygiene, meant that the ladies of Georgian society did not come flocking. Before long Day came to the conclusion that none of the women he met in elegant drawing roomswould ever live up the vision of the ideal womanhe had constructed from his reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's scandalous book Émile. So, in true Pygmalion style, he hit on the idea of creating the perfect wife.

With this daring plan in mind, he invoked the help of his dazzling circle of friends, including such luminaries as Erasmus Darwin, Richard Lovell Edgeworth and the sharp-tongued Anna Seward. In How to Create the Perfect Wife, acclaimed biographer Wendy Moore tells the story of this bizarre socialexperiment, illuminating the radicalism - and deep contradictions - that lay at the heart of this most fascinating period.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0297863789
• ISBN 13: 9780297863786
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 336
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile