ISBN: 9780520231962

"Anyone who imagines social lament over divorce to be a very recent phenomenon should read Norma Basch's book, which tells a fascinating set of stories about law and about culture in the … Meer...

"Anyone who imagines social lament over divorce to be a very recent phenomenon should read Norma Basch's book, which tells a fascinating set of stories about law and about culture in the United States, from the forging of divorce provision in the Revolutionary era to the moral ambiguities and acknowledged hypocrisies it caused a century later. Tacking between the social facts of rising divorce and the alarmed or enthusiastic commentary on it, "Framing American Divorce guides us through the social landscape of nineteenth-century America."--Nancy Cott, author of "The Grounding of Modern Feminism"A careful, fascinating study of divorce in nineteenth-century America, which penetrates its legal logic, its diverse passions, and its prurient appeal."--Joyce Appleby, coauthor of "Telling the Truth about History"In a pathbreaking study that situates legal history in the larger social and cultural context of nineteenth-century America, "Framing American Divorce transforms our understanding of the sexual and social contract that has defined our most intimate relations. Executed with a singular power and persuasiuveness, Basch's narrative is a compelling rereading of the past that has resonance for the present.--Mary C. Kelley, Dartmouth College Media > Book, [PU: University of California Press]<