Marriage of Inconvenience: Euphemia Chalmers Gray and John Ruskin: the secret history of the most notorious marital failure of the Victorian era - Softcover

'One of the two or three most important books on Ruskin to appear in the last thirty years.' James Dearden, former Master of the Guild of St George 'The story of the ill-fated marriage of John Ruskin and Effie Gray has intrigued and appalled generations of those with an interest in the midnineteenth century. Robert Brownell s account of events is by far the most thorough yet. In almost forensic detail, and in a remarkably gripping way, he re-examines every pertinent document from diaries and personal letters (many printed here in full for the first time) to contemporary legal papers and offers a new and carefully weighted interpretation of the background, developing drama and ultimate conclusion of one of the century s most interesting scandals. His book can surely lay claim to being the last word on this aptly titled Marriage of Inconvenience.' Stephen Wildman, Director, Ruskin Library, University of Lancaster 'Brownell has the story-teller's gift as well as a love for his evidence: this may be a scholarly tour-de-force but for sheer readability he has produced a cross between a John Grisham novel and an episode of New Tricks... And how refreshing at last to have some sanity and measure of well-evidenced truth in an episode that has bedevilled Ruskin's reputation for over 150 years.' Howard Hull Director, the Ruskin Foundation

Effie Gray was an innocent victim of a male-dominated society, repressed and mistreated. Or was she? John Ruskin, the greatest art critic and social reformer of his time, was a callous misogynist and upholder of the patriarchy. Or was he? John Everett Millais, boy genius, rescued the heroine from the tyrannical clutches of the husband who left his wedding unconsummated for six years. Or did he? What really happened in the most scandalous love triangle of the nineteenth century? Was it all about impotence and pubic hair? Or was it about money, power and freedom? If so, whose? And what possibilities were there for these young people caught in a world racked by social, financial and political turmoil? The accepted story of the Ruskin marriage has never lost its fascination. History books, novels, television series, operas and now a star-filled film by Emma Thompson (to be released in 2014) have all followed this standard line. It seems to offer an easy take on the Victorians and how we have moved on. But the story isn't true. In 'Marriage of Inconvenience' Robert Brownell uses extensive documentary evidence - much of it never seen before, and much of it hitherto suppressed - to reveal a story no less fascinating and human, no less illuminating about the Victorians and far more instructive about our own times, than the myths that have grown up about the most notorious marriage of the 19th century.