Wedlock

EDITORIAL REVIEW: With the death of her fabulously wealthy coal magnate father when she was just eleven, Mary Eleanor Bowes became the richest heiress in Britain. An ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II, Mary grew to be a highly educated young woman, winning acclaim as a playwright and botanist. Courted by a bevy of eager suitors, at eighteen she married the handsome but aloof ninth Earl of Strathmore in a celebrated, if ultimately troubled, match that forged the Bowes Lyon name. Yet she stumbled headlong into scandal when, following her husbandвЂTMs early death, a charming young army hero flattered his way into the merry widowвЂTMs bed. Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney insisted on defending her honor in a duel, and Mary was convinced she had found true love. Judged by doctors to have been mortally wounded in the melee, Stoney persuaded Mary to grant his dying wish; four days later they were married.Sadly, the “captain” was not what he seemed. Staging a sudden and remarkable recovery, Stoney was revealed as a debt-ridden lieutenant, a fraudster, and a bully. Immediately taking control of MaryвЂTMs vast fortune, he squandered her wealth and embarked on a campaign of appalling violence and cruelty against his new bride. Finally, fearing for her life, Mary masterminded an audacious escape and challenged social conventions of the day by launching a suit for divorce. The English public was horrified–and enthralled. But MaryвЂTMs troubles were far from over . . . Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray was inspired by StoneyвЂTMs villainy to write *The Luck of Barry Lyndon,* which Stanley Kubrick turned into an Oscar-winning film. Based on exhaustive archival research, *Wedlock* is a thrilling and cinematic true story, ripped from the headlines of eighteenth-century England.*From the Hardcover edition.* Wedlock Is The Remarkable Story Of The Countess Of Strathmore And Her Marriage To Andrew Robinson Stoney. Mary Eleanor Bowes Was One Of Britain's Richest Young Heiresses. She Married The Count Of Strathmore Who Died Young, And Pregnant With Her Lover's Child, Mary Became Engaged To George Gray. Then In Swooped Andrew Robinson Stoney. Mary Was Bowled Over And Married Him Within The Week. But Nothing Was As It Seemed. Stoney Was Broke, And His Pursuit Of The Wealthy Countess A Calculated Ploy. Once Married To Mary, He Embarked On Years Of Ill Treatment, Seizing Her Lands, Beating Her, Terrorising Servants, Introducing Prostitutes To The Family Home, Kidnapping His Own Sister. But Finally After Many Years, A Servant Helped Mary To Escape. She Began A High-profile Divorce Case That Was The Scandal Of The Day And Was Successful. But Then Andrew Kidnapped Her And Undertook A Week-long Rampage Of Terror And Cruelty Until The Law Finally Caught Up With Him.