Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0701169141, Hardcover)

An irresistible blend of history and memoir.

Through the lives and marriages of four extraordinary women, Forster explores what it means to be a ‘good wife’, and how that definition has changed. Covering the period from 1848 to the present, she discovers that despite the tremendous transformation in women’s lives, and the evolution of marriage, some aspects and attitudes remain fixed and immutable.