Beach Reads II: Why They Stay

WhyThey Stay:  Sex Scandals, Deals, andHidden Agendas of Nine Political Wives, by Anne Michaud.  (Ogunquit-NY Press, 2017)

If you plan on watching A Very English Scandal this summer and are wondering who Jeremy Thorpe is and why you should care, a chapter in this book will provide an outline of the story.  That is one of the nine scandals outlined in this book.  I’m about halfway through and, having read a fair amount about some of the cases in this book, the ones I am familiar with are represented well, even if briefly.  Entire books have been written about some, if not all, of the examples presented, but looking at them in a group allows for some comparison.  She has devised a White Queen scale and compares each spouse in the book by a rating based on the scale.  I think this will confuse some readers, especially if they have no idea who Elizabeth Woodville was.  On the other hand, if, like me, you know very well who Elizabeth Woodville was, it is equally perplexing.   The widow Grey (nee Woodville) managed to do quite well by her family after her marriage (I had Richard III’s picture in my locker in high school and have never been a particularly big fan of Liz, or, for that matter, her husband.  Those Woodvilles, ugh.)

Back to Michaud’s book, it is an excellent introduction to a number of political sex scandals and the spouses that stayed.  While most of the couples are American there are chapters that take place in other countries, such as the UK and Israel.