The Weaker Vessel

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. Book Description Antonia Fraser's bestselling account of the lives of women in seventeenth-century England. 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.