STRONG PASSIONS

Narratives about rich people behaving badly captivate readers, and this account of a lurid Civil War–era divorce should satisfy all parties.

Former TV producer Weisberg, author of Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism, has no shortage of material because the events in this story involve members of New York society whose sexual misadventures enraptured the media. After setting the scene, the author introduces her subjects: Peter Strong and Mary Stevens, who married in 1853. An apparently normal family life followed until their 14-month-old daughter died of influenza in 1862. Shortly after the funeral, Mary tearfully confessed that she had been having an affair with Peter’s brother. With divorce “unthinkable” in respectable circles, Peter decided to break off all relations but continue to live under the same roof. To complicate matters, within weeks Mary revealed that she was pregnant. The question of which brother was responsible became irrelevant when Mary lost the baby, either to miscarriage or to an abortion instigated by her husband. (Weisberg believes the latter.) Relations grew increasingly strained, but two years passed before Peter filed for divorce. The author delivers a day-by-day account of the trial, making skillful use of court transcripts, contemporary journalism, letters, and the classic diary of George Templeton Strong (Peter’s cousin). Readers will enjoy the legal repartee and fume at the disgraceful legal subservience of women. The ending is somewhat anticlimactic: The jury was “deadlocked,” with central questions remaining unanswered, and no official divorce was granted. Three years later, Peter’s lawyers quietly requested that the court reopen the divorce action; this time, the parties waived their right to a trial and would accept a referee’s decision, provided Mary received custody of the daughter. The referee found no difficulties; the couple divorced and proceeded to live out conventional lives.

Entertaining Victorian courtroom fireworks.