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Amazon.co.uk Review
Adam Nicolson, author of books on the Dome and on Windsor Castle, is no stranger to writing about lost causes, and in The Hated Wife: Carrie Kipling 1862-1939 he does a fair job of rescuing Rudyard Kipling's wife from the battering she has received from biographers of Britain's last great white poet. Nicolson recreates the tragedy that beset their marriage--the poet's love for her brother, the death of their children, Kipling's own drawn-out illness--and makes the case, if not for sympathy (he indulges in some rather biting criticism of Caroline Kipling himself), then at least for empathy. --Miles Taylor
Product Description
Carrie Kipling was one of the most unpopular women of her generation. Henry James called her that hard, capable little person', Rudyard Kipling's parents detested her. And yet Carrie was in many ways misunderstood. Drawing on a vast archive of diaries and letters, Adam Nicolson cuts right to the heart of the Kiplings' dysfunctional marriage. For the first time here, Came is seen for the woman she was - not as the bullying tyrant intent on controlling her genius husband, but as a bastion of American courage in the face of serial family tragedy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The title of this book attracted me to it. I wanted to know how the wife of one of the most famous writers of all time had earned this accolade. Having watched the television dramatisation of 'My Boy Jack' last year and seen nothing so extreme about Carrie's personality, I was eager for more information. And so I learnt about a headstrong, independent woman; one who chose not to conform to the feminine protocols of the day, who appeared fearless in the expression of her views and took a great deal of responsibility for the management of her husband's career as well as raising a family.
Although there is certainly information in the book that suggests that Carrie Kipling was not the most popular character e.g. by failing to keep staff and the expression of the doubts of others about her suitability to marry Rudyard Kipling, I did not finish the book hating her. Letters and diary entries detailing significant events e.g. the loss of her daughter and anxiety regarding her husband's health demonstrated quite convincingly the presence of a heart. The fact that she continued managing her husband's career through these life-changing events shows great courage and strength, as far as I am concerned, rather than a foundation for hatred.
This said, I would highly recommend this book - a very interesting over view of a life amongst other exciting talents of the time, including Henry James and most importantly, an opportunity to draw your own conclusions about a woman who I think perhaps, was ahead of her time.
Although there is certainly information in the book that suggests that Carrie Kipling was not the most popular character e.g. by failing to keep staff and the expression of the doubts of others about her suitability to marry Rudyard Kipling, I did not finish the book hating her. Letters and diary entries detailing significant events e.g. the loss of her daughter and anxiety regarding her husband's health demonstrated quite convincingly the presence of a heart. The fact that she continued managing her husband's career through these life-changing events shows great courage and strength, as far as I am concerned, rather than a foundation for hatred.
This said, I would highly recommend this book - a very interesting over view of a life amongst other exciting talents of the time, including Henry James and most importantly, an opportunity to draw your own conclusions about a woman who I think perhaps, was ahead of her time.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very impressionistic biography that often proceeds by supposition. The suspicion one has is that the idea of the book (let's argue a contrary case) drives the author's research. Such doubts receive confirmation when the author appears not to know - or rather understand - some of the Kipling stories he quotes. So, for example, he says that in 'Mary Postgate' Mary lights a fire which slowly burns to death a German airman (pages 70-71). In fact, the story (a very memorable one), shows Mary watching a German airman die of his wounds while stoking an incinerator in which she is burning the childhood toys of a British airman who has recently died . . .
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A small treasure. Found this book intriguing. Showed both Kipling and his wife in a very different light from the popular conceptions: He always painted as the strong, powerful seeker of justice. She as the bitter troublmaker in the background. Read it for yourself and be equally intrigued...
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