I understand what Rachael Lennon was trying to achieve with Wedded Wife, but it didn't quite work for me. I liked it, but didn't love it as much as I thought I would based on the blurb.

*3.75
informative and entertaining (and very very enraging) i also appreciate the inclusivity (usually reading feminist books by white women means i have to prepare myself for pages full of white women problems from a white woman perspective)...i must read books specifically about marriage in islam from a feminist perspective!!!
My only complaint (beside quoting literal war criminals.) is that i got bored near the end (i feel like there were some repetitive ideas in some chapters that made them a bit longer than my liking and made it harder for me to pay attention ... but this is just my own preference!!)

An interesting read.

I wish it had downloaded onto my kindle rather than the app as it was a very chunky book and would have been easier to read. I also found it interesting that the author was married considering the views of the book however I did enjoy it and would recommend.

Thank you for the arc.

I found this book very interesting. It was a slow read for me over a long period that I finished whilst on holiday. It was an interesting look at marriage from a feminist, modern perspective going from historical times to current.

This discussion of being a wife in the context of primarily white and Western cultures is so poignant and delicious. This was a delightful breakdown of marriage and specifically wifedom that approaches from a variety of perspectives topics that we don’t often talk about. As a queer person, I also felt seen and appreciated by the pages discussing the ways we can subvert and appreciate traditions in ways that work best for our loves and our families. This was a solid, enjoyable read that I’d recommend as a fine introduction or addition to feminist and queer perspectives.

This is a good book, but it didn't pull me in as much as I thought it would. There are several sections that are rather dull, especially stories related to people from (mostly British) history. Overall, it was much more UK-focused than I realized and I skimmed many of the examples. I was looking for a broader reaching review of marriage. I did appreciate how the author goes through each step, from proposal to becoming a wife to becoming a mother and sometimes ending a marriage. The structure was great. It just lacked some oomph to make this a really attention-grabbing book.

Very interesting and eye-opening book. A great insight into marriage and where traditions come from, and a great perspective of queer relationships and the pressure to conform to traditions. I will definitely be purchasing the final version of this book.

This was an interesting feminist critique of marriage, as it currently exists and its history of existence. The author, Rachael Lennon, wrote “this book emerged as an interrogation of my own decision to marry”, and that I can certainly agree with.

The book covers many topics of marriage from “tradition” and same sex marriage to divorce and consent. It does cover a lot, but it does this in a well thought out, well written way.

Lennon credits the wide range of “personal collection of stories” “to so many specialists, researchers, historians, academics, curators and archivists who have worked for years to explore, uncover and shine new light on these past lives”. This makes for fascinating reading and towards the end portrays a very important message of the future of marriage and the use of “traditional” as “the last defence of the indefensible” which seems like a particularly prominent statement in the current times. The appreciation of this sentiment was not lost of me, and there are plenty of people out there who would do well to listen and learn from that.

This book was not perfect for me, at times I felt like we were trying to meet a word count (putting it bluntly). I think these sections dragged a bit where messages were being reinforced that had already been conveyed, these could have been shortened but that is just my opinion.

I do recommend this book as an interesting introduction to the constructs of Marriage, its history and how with this knowledge you can make your own choices and decisions regarding your own approach to marriage.

I would like to thank netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting look at the history of marriage, and fairly inclusive.

Wedded Wife is an interesting look at marriage from a 2023, feminist, and often queer lens. It looks back over history as well as current practices and sifts through the various aspects of marriage from engagements to weddings to kids. I enjoyed this book and especially the lens the author utilized. Marriage is such a pervasive, common subject that a book about it could be stale, but this was fresh.

A wonderful informative look at marriage from historical traditions to our modern times. This book was so well written so interesting I enjoyed reading about the author's same sex marriage the part their mothers played so interesting so well written

This was a great introduction to the history of marriage and marital traditions through an intersectional feminist lens. I appreciated that the author included pieces concerning racism, class, and LGBTQIA+ history and how the marriage dynamic has sought to exclude certain groups.

This is an interesting feminist critique of marriage which examines history of marriage and it being male centric and a different viewpoint of view of what marriage could mean now in the early 21st century . well worth reading

Wedded Wife is a history of marriage and how marriage has impacted women's rights over the course of history. Additionally, Lennon discusses the impact on the LGBT community of marriage laws and customs. What brought this book to life for me was the stories of different women and couples throughout. Lennon comes to things from a unique perspective as a woman who wanted to study for herself why she felt the need to participate in the institution of marriage with her wife and where so many of the traditions related to marriage came from.

A wonderful informative look at marriage from historical traditions to our modern times.This book was so well written so interesting I enjoyed reading about the authors same sex marriage the part their mothers played so interesting so well written.#netgalley #quartobooks

I liked this one in a lot of ways, though I was struck by how white the women described in many of the examples in the book were. Would have liked to have seen how marriage has evolved for women of color, as well.

A fascinating and insightful examination of the history of marriage around the world. It was well researched and provided an intersectional study of the institution, exploring the impact of colonialism and on different cultures and their traditions, alongside cisheteronormativity.

I loved this book. The writer’s view touches the things I never thought about and makes me rethink some of the traditions. I did learn some new things and got interested to research/read about certain aspects touched in this book. I also enjoy not only history and theoretical knowledge, but sharing the author’s personal experience

This was a clear, well thought out and informative book about the history of marriage and in particular how it has impacted women over the centuries.
I found some parts shocking in what a woman was expected of her as a wife and the duties she was expected to perform.
Whilst it was touched on about same sex marriages; the author herself is in a same sex marriage, I did think that there could have been more scope for the book to be more diverse and inclusive. Not much was said about those who are non binary, trans, BIPOC or disabled. I thought that for a book that was aimed at the changing nature of marriage that there could have been more mentioned about this.
Overall though I did find the book interesting and learned a lot about marriage in the past and how it has been shaped over time.

this was an okay read if you have the time. it's presented in a very digestible manner, which made it easy for me to read this in chunks and is good for anyone whose attention span may have deteriorated over the past couple of years, but—to me, at least—the information presented wasn't novel or exciting enough for me to have spent the time i did reading this. it's a concise, well-written nonfiction history of marriage, viewed very much through a feminist and intersectional lens—i just found that i already knew a lot of the information and it wasn't super engaging for me personally. so if you want to learn more about the history of marriage, the roots of marriage and income inequality, as well as the intersection of divorce laws, custody laws, and domestic violence, this is a good book for you.