Wife to Mr. Milton — Robert Graves

“[A] penetrating study of one of the strangest marriages in history . . . Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius, has the gift for fleshing the bare bones of history (Kirkus Reviews).
 
The famous poet John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, had a wife, and their story is both strange and tumultuous. Consummate historical novelist and poet Robert Graves tells the story from the perspective of the wife, Marie Powell, a young woman who married the poet to escape a debt.
 
From the start, the couple proves mismatched; Milton is a domineering and insensitive husband set on punishing Marie for not providing the promised dowry. John Milton and his young wife are both religiously and temperamentally incompatible, and this portrait of their relationship is spellbinding, if not distinctly unflattering to Milton. It also provides fascinating accounts of the political upheavals of the time, including the execution of Charles I. This book is an excellent read for fans of historical fiction.
 
“Vivid, rich and forthright.” -- The Sunday Times