Reviews

The Courtship of Eva Eldridge: A Story of Bigamy in the Marriage Mad Fifties by Diane Simmons

yetanothersusan's review against another edition

3.0

Unlike the title character who still thinks her husband loves only her, I felt conned by this book. Yes, it was the story of Eva and how she was romanced by a bigamist. But there was so much extraneous information about the war, about her relatives, about everything, that it felt like perhaps Ms. Simmons didn't have enough to stay focused on her subject. If perhaps the idea was that all of these things combined together to set Eva up for the fall, then maybe it would have been good to state that plainly at some point. Instead, I got the impression that it was solely Vick and his devotion that fooled Eva. So why was the rest of that included? Was this actually a book about the life of Eva and her marriage to Vick was a part? Then the title is way off. I also did not think the book conveyed how Eva felt. Statements like "Eva may have....." or "at this point Eva probably...." seemed to dampen any feelings being shown. Ms. Simmons knew Eva personally and had access to her correspondence. I feel like she should have been able to make more qualified statements. Additionally, the booked bounced around the timeline and with all the moving parts, that made it a bit difficult to follow. So while Eva and her life were interesting and the extra historical information about everything else was interesting, I feel like the book wasn't really sure what it wanted to be about.

A preview copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and University of Iowa Press in exchange for an honest review.

katebelt's review against another edition

5.0

It's a well written and researched book, following the story of one woman who ended up married to a bigamist with at least 7 wives. What I found especiallly fascinating was the detailed description of women's lives and roles before, during, and after WWII.

msw's review

5.0

I love this wonderful nonfiction book THE COURTSHIP OF EVA ELDRIDGE, where author Diane Simmons explores not only one woman's strange experience with marriage but also a world "turned upside down, one in which her parents' beliefs seemed only dimly relevant and that—right or wrong—she too had tried to follow her heart."
Set during the second world war when women were encouraged--even propagandized--to go to work in war industry, and then afterward, when the propaganda told them to go home and take care of their men, it covers the rich excitement and confusion of the times with ease and panache--and a darn good story.