Deborah Siddoway

Lover of books, avid reader, Dickens enthusiast, wine drinker, knitter, writer, lover of all things Victorian, Northerner, divorced.

The Story of Divorce

My current work in progress: Exploring the stories of the bigamists and bastards, feminists and fornicators that gave us the law of divorce as it exists today.

Latest from the Blog

A (non-academic) review of The Marriage Question by Clare Carlisle

The Marriage Question by Clare CarlisleMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This is not an academic review, although some of my thoughts are influenced by my PhD research on divorce law reform in the nineteenth century.This is a wonderfully entertaining, well-written, and thoroughly researched book exploring the issue of marriage as it impacted on the…

A Quick Review of The Little Match Girl Strikes Back

LITTLE MATCH GIRL STRIKES BACK by Emma CarrollMy rating: 4 of 5 starsThis is an empowering re-telling of a Hans Christian Anderson story of an impoverished match-seller struggling to make a living selling matches on the freezing streets. Subverting the tragedy of Anderson’s tale, this transposes the story onto the streets of London, where young…

The Idea of North by Peter Davidson: Some Thoughts

Books about the North seem to have a magnetic attraction for me at the moment as I continue to explore what it means – for me – to be a Northerner following my return to live in the North East of England. I was drawn to this book, sitting on a bookshelf in a gift…

The Podcast Series: The Story of Divorce

A Vile and Incestuous Intercourse The Story of Divorce

The story of Louisa Turton's marriage, and the circumstances which led to her petitioning Parliament for a divorce, becoming the second woman to be successful in her petition for a Parliamentary divorce.
  1. A Vile and Incestuous Intercourse
  2. Guilty of so Atrocious a Crime
  3. Without Shame or Modesty
  4. An Impudent, Infamous, and Lascivious Way
  5. The Curious Case of Adulterine Bastardy

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