Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York
Barbara Weisberg
Mar 2024 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Elisabeth Ashby
headphones
Audiobook
8 hr 52 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 53 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
What could possibly go wrong in a wealthy matriarch's country home when her dilettante son, his restless wife, and his widowed brother live there together? Strong Passions, rooted in the beguiling times of Edith Wharton's "old New York," recounts the true story of a tumultuous marriage. In 1862, Mary Strong stunned her husband, Peter, by confessing to a two-year affair with his brother. Peter sued Mary for divorce for adultery-the only grounds in New York-but not before she accused him of forcing her into an abortion and having his own affair with the abortionist. She then kidnapped their young daughter and disappeared. The divorce trial Strong v. Strong riveted the nation during the final throes and aftermath of the Civil War, offering a shocking glimpse into the private world of New York's powerful and privileged elite. Barbara Weisberg presents the chaotic courtroom and panoply of witnesses who provided contradictory and often salacious testimony. She then asks us to be the jury, deciding each spouse's guilt and the possibility of a just resolution. Social history at its most intimate, Strong Passions charts a trial's twists and turns to portray a family and country in turmoil as they faced conflicts over women's changing roles, male custody of children, and men's power-financial and otherwise-over wives.
About the author
Barbara Weisberg is a former television producer and the author of Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism. She lives with her husband in upstate New York.
Elisabeth Ashby is a seasoned character actor and singer with over two decades of stage experience. Having loved audiobooks since she was a little girl, she is thrilled to have found a way to combine her love of performing with her lifelong passion for the written word as a narrator.
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
