Cover of Wife to Mr. Milton: The Story of Marie Powell

Wife to Mr. Milton: The Story of Marie Powell

From the dust jacket...

With impressive literary power, with a beauty that makes this novel live and glow in the consciousness of the reader, Robert Graves unfolds the story of the tragic and eventful life of Marie Powell, who, at the age of sixteen, was pushed into marrying the man who was England's greatest epic poet—and knew it—John Milton.

Read more

The story, by an acknowledged master of the historical novel, has a triple fascination.

First, for its tender account of the romance Marie Powell found outside the walls of her tyrannical husband's house, and the utter misery to which he enforced her.

Then, for the astute study of the "sublime" Milton of Paradise Lost, at last portrayed in his true light, in those characteristics which led him to become Oliver Cromwell's Dr. Goebbels.

And further, for the brilliant account of one of the most breath-taking epochs in English history, when that kingdom was ravaged by a bloody civil war and the tides of fortune swayed from one to the other side of the opposing camps—the King against his parliament, tyranny against freedom—culminating in the dramatic execution of Charles I, and the establishment of a republic, all of which assumes added significance in the light of today's events.

Audience
adult
Length
medium · 352 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Wife to Mr. Milton: The Story of Marie Powell? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Wife to Mr. Milton: The Story of Marie Powell. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Too Great a Lady: The Notorious, Glorious Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton Shares historical fiction, England, fiction
  2. The Tontine Shares historical fiction, fiction, classics
  3. The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston Shares historical fiction, biography, classics
  4. Elizabeth Chadwick Bundle: The Greatest Knight, The Scarlet Lion, and For the King's Favor Shares historical fiction, fiction, England

“People who read Wife to Mr. Milton: The Story of Marie Powell tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Oh What A Lovely War
  2. The Beginning of Spring
  3. Iron Gustav: A Berlin Family Chronicle
  4. Little Gods

“If you want more of the same (historical fiction), start with these.”

  1. Tendrils of Life: A story of love, loss, and survival in the turmoil of the Korean War
  2. Constantine
  3. The Master's Muse
  4. The Potter's Hand

“If it was the England that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Walworth Beauty
  2. The Snow Globe
  3. Shores Of Darkness
  4. Widdershins

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. A Reckoning for Kings
  2. Showa, 1939-1944: A History of Japan
  3. The Price of Valour
  4. Aurelia