Don't judge a book by its cover! Received this book in blind book exchange and was pleasantly surprised. The cover looks like it is a sappy romance novel, but it is a very thoughtful historical fiction account of a terrible, accidental love triangle. I want to learn more about the life of the first Mrs.Oades. It is a harsh reminder of how far we have come in society as women in the past 100 years. As much work as there remains, our lives are so much better now. A good book about a man who is married and makes his wife and children move to Australia. They are only supposed to stay two years but he gets a promotion and they stay longer. One day when he's at work, Maori come, kidnap his whole family and burn the house to the ground. One of the infants dies. The family lives in slavery for a long time, like 5 or 6 years. Margaret Oades becomes a midwife and helps a lot of Maori. Eventually, she and her family contract smallpox. The Maori want to shoot them, but the women say no, it's bad luck. So they are released. They make a long dangerous trek through the woods. Meanwhile, after many years of searching, Henry believes them all dead. He moves to California and remarries to a young widow with a child. He is very surprised when Margaret and the children show up on his doorstep. Soon he is arrested for bigamy. Margaret and Nancy (the new wife) are initially at odds, but soon become friends. The ending is more about the court case than the people, which was slightly disappointing. “His wife had possessed a certain feminine manliness all women could learn from.” “There's no such thing as a settled life. Endure the day, get on to the next. Enjoy the sea if you can. Enjoy your smoke. Enjoy a grand void of your bowels. Try to sleep. Try not to dream. It's the best you can do.”
What do You think about The Wives Of Henry Oades (2010)?
There are several different segments to this book and all of them are thought-provoking.
—abew
Like a train wreck - horrible story, but you can't stop watching!
—HaniWalker
