Kris L. (miss-info) reviewed on 7/24/2009 + 386 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

This intellectual book profiles the lives of five unusual couples from the 1800's; Jane Welsh and Thomas Carlyle, Effie Gray and John Ruskin, Harriet Taylor and John Stuart Mill, Catherine Hogarth and Charles Dickens, George Eliot and George Henry Lewes. Each of the couples has some unusual arrangement, usually regarding sex (or the lack thereof). In fact, there's a lot of talk about sex (and the lack thereof) throughout the entire book, not in a descriptive way, but analyzing the customs of the time. Some knowledge of English writers and their literature may help. The two readers of this household found it entertaining in an oddly twisted sort of way. Be sure to read the notes at the end.

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