As Good as a Marriage: The Anne Lister Diaries 1836-38

The BBC and HBO series Gentleman Jack brought Anne Lister to international attention, awakening tremendous interest in her diaries, which run to nearly five million and are partly written in her secret code. They record in intimate detail Anneâ (TM)s intellectual energy and her challenges to so many of societyâ (TM)s expectations of women at the time.

In As Good as a Marriage, the sequel to Female Fortune, Jill Liddingtonâ (TM)s edited transcriptions of the diaries show us Anne from 1836â "38. She guides the reader through life at Shibden Hall after Anneâ (TM)s unconventional â ~marriageâ (TM) to wealthy local heiress Ann Walker. The book explores the daily lives of these two women, from convivial evenings together to her ruthless pursuit of her own business and landowning ambitions.

Yet the diariesâ (TM) coded passages also record tensions and quarrels, with Ann Walker often in tears. Was their relationship really as fragile as Anneâ (TM)s coded writing suggests? This question is at the heart of As Good as a Marriage.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 03/07/2023
ISBN: 9781526157355
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 5.67h x 8.58w x 1.42d