Framing American divorce

Framing American Divorce is a boldly innovative exploration of the multiple meanings of divorce in American life during the formative years of both the nation and its law, roughly 1770 to 1870. Drawing on a wide array of sources, Basch enriches and complicates our understanding of the development of divorce law by telling her story from three discrete but overlapping perspectives. In "Rules" she tracks the broad public debate and legislation over the appropriate grounds for and long-term consequences of divorce. "Mediations" shifts to a close-up analysis of the way ordinary women and men tested the rules in the county courts. And "Representations" charts the spiraling imagery of divorce through stories that made their way into American popular culture.

First sentence: On a bleak day in the early spring of 1879, a somber young woman boards a train in Boston to begin the first leg of a journey to Indiana.

Year

1999

Language

English

Publisher

University of California Press

Editions

1

Pages

249

ISBN

9780520231962

Data source: Wikidata