I really enjoyed reading this book and will recommend it to all of my friends. They would have been interviewed by Oprah and there would be outpouring of support. Nowadays, this would have made front page news and they all would have had family counseling. It made me feel fortunate to be living now. That makes a good reason not to have either marriage annulled. That would mean that they may not be employed or have opportunities in later life. In today's world one of the wives would have been divorced, but in those days that would have made the children illegitimate. This is evident by Margaret's acceptance of the situation. They made the best of every situation and didn't feel as sorry for themselves as we do today.

That they accepted what happened to them, and much of what they did do was to please society. I had to keep reminding myself that in those days people didn't express their emotions as much as they do today. Many of the reviewers said that they wanted more fleshed out characters. She knew all she needed to know about other things and places. At thirty-two she was a contented homebody, John and Josephine's mum, Henry's wife. She'd agreed aloud, but not in her heart. It is a historical novel based on a true court case in California at the turn of the twentieth century. It's good to get to know other things and places, Henry had said on the train. Exploring the intricacies of marriage, the construction of family, the changing world of the late 1800s, and the strength of two remarkable women, Johanna Moran turns this unusual family’s story into an unforgettable page-turning drama.I really enjoyed reading this book. Narrated primarily by the two wives, and based on a real-life legal case, The Wives of Henry Oades is the riveting story of what happens when Henry, Margaret, and Nancy face persecution for bigamy.

There he marries Nancy Foreland, a young widow with a new baby, and it seems they’ve both found happiness in the midst of their mourning-until Henry’s first wife and children show up, alive and having finally escaped captivity. Grief-stricken, he books passage to California. Their new home is rougher and more rustic than they expected-and a single night of tragedy shatters the family when the native Maori stage an uprising, kidnapping Margaret and her children.įor months, Henry scours the surrounding wilderness, until all hope is lost and his wife and children are presumed dead. But while Henry is an adventurer, Margaret is not. When Henry Oades accepts an accountancy post in New Zealand, his wife, Margaret, and their children follow him to exotic Wellington.

The wives of henry oades book review