Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
23rd out of 27 books
—
4 voters
Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais
Effie Gray, a beautiful and intelligent young socialite, rattled the foundations of England’s Victorian age. Married at nineteen to John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the time, she found herself trapped in a loveless, unconsummated union after Ruskin rejected her on their wedding night. On a trip to Scotland she met John Everett Millais, Ruskin’s protégé, and fell pas
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
June 21st 2011
by St. Martin's Press
(first published September 23rd 2010)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
238)
A wonderfully written account of Effie Millais' life and a great depiction of what Victorian England must have been like.
Suzanne Fagence Cooper writes a story using Effie's Letters to and from her family and friends, her and her husbands diaries.
When I first picked up 'Effie' in Waterstones,I was expecting some great love affair-But it's more then that. It's the woman behind the two men she called husband. After finishing the book, I felt an acute sense that I knew Effie and I really felt for...more
Suzanne Fagence Cooper writes a story using Effie's Letters to and from her family and friends, her and her husbands diaries.
When I first picked up 'Effie' in Waterstones,I was expecting some great love affair-But it's more then that. It's the woman behind the two men she called husband. After finishing the book, I felt an acute sense that I knew Effie and I really felt for...more
Amo Millais. Mi ha sempre affascinato la storia di come il movimento Preraffaellita si sia fatto largo in epoca vittoriana. Ed ho sempre trovato affascinante la sua storia d'amore con Effie Gray, prima Miss Ruskin, poi separata e nuova sposa dell'artista. Il libro è scorrevole, ma ricco di dettagli che illuminano al meglio il personaggio di questa giovane donna che non si lasciò sopraffare dalla morale e dai costumi dell'epoca, ma riuscì a conquistare il suo diritto ad essere moglie e madre appa...more
This is an excellent look into the life of Effie Grey, who is primarily known for her marriages in the world of Victorian art. Cooper had unprecedented access to Effie's letters, generously lent by the Millais family. For the most part, Cooper makes excellent use of them as she untangles Effie's first, and rather troubled, marriage to John Ruskin. Ruskin's voice is so powerful and so authoritative even all these years later that it is a joy to finally hear Effie, to get her side of the tale. How...more
1 like · like · see review
I always knew there was something strange about Ruskin's marriage but I'd no idea how strange it was. This tells all the convolutions of that marriage and the joy of her real marriage to John Everett Millais. Effie was the eldest child of her parents who had 14 more, although only about half grew to adulthood. Effie (Euphemia) had a eight herself and lost a son when he was 20 and a still born child. As is the case with any large family it is sometimes difficult to keep siblings & offspring s...more
Readers interested in Victorian lives or the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood should pick this fascinating biography of the much-maligned wife of John Ruskin, Effie Gray. Cooper uses Gray's own correspondence, journals, and those of her family to examine the scandal of her first, unconsummated marriage to Ruskin, the subsequent annulment, and her happier life afterwards with the painter John Everett Millais.
While many are aware of the scandal - usually characterized in passing in other works as a whi...more
While many are aware of the scandal - usually characterized in passing in other works as a whi...more
I think the main reason I enjoyed this biography of Effie Gray - Ruskin - Millais was because the subject herself was an interesting woman who led an interesting life. Suzanne Fagence Cooper tells the story rather well, making good use of Effie and her family's correspondence and occasionally imagining how Effie might have felt or acted at a particular moment. Definitely well worth a read for anyone interested in John Ruskin, John Everett Millais and the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood or indeed in E...more
Suzanne Cooper introduced her book at Waterstones in York. She is an engaging, passionate and articulate speaker and writer. Her talk impressed, the book inspired. It is scholarly yet written to entertain, inform and enlighten. Effie, her family, her husbands are brought to life as people with their ambitions, hopes, dreams and loves as played out within the constraints of Victorian society.
A wonderful account of the values of the times and the lives of famous names from the Pre-Raphaelite Broth...more
A wonderful account of the values of the times and the lives of famous names from the Pre-Raphaelite Broth...more
I liked this book as I am very interested in the Pre-raphaelites and have read a lot of factual information about them. This book was well researched and an easy read but I was not happy with the style. It read as if it was fiction and I had difficulty reading it as a true representation because thoughts and assumptions were made. Obviously as the author had access to letters and other documentation the facts were there but it would have been better if the book had not been written like a novel
I wanted to like this book much more than I did, because the story is fascinating and the people are all so interesting. But the writing never brought the people or the complicated scenario to life as it could have. And in the end, while the biographer was careful to point to her references frequently, I didn't end up trusting the conclusions she drew from them. She didn't engage in hagiography, but she didn't seem engaged enough with the main characters to really portray them as fully as necess...more
Definitely a very interesting story. I liked how Cooper tried to give the story from everyone's point of view and didn't quote the reference letters TOO extensively, though a few direct quotations certainly would not have hurt here and there. Overall, I liked it and genuinely felt as though I got to know these historical figures.
Personally, I love pre-Raphaelite art, and Millais' art, being one of the most popular artists of his time, is especially interesting when you have his history and fami...more
Personally, I love pre-Raphaelite art, and Millais' art, being one of the most popular artists of his time, is especially interesting when you have his history and fami...more
Wonderful accompaniment to the Pre-Raphaelite show now at the National Gallery of Art. Effie Gray had her unconsummated marriage to John Ruskin annulled and married John Everett Millais. A shocking turn of events at the time. The book is well written and researched and a real window into the plight of women in Victorian England and the Victorian art world. The author spent 12 years at the V&A as a curator and research fellow in Victorian Art. She knows her stuff.
John Ruskin and John Everett Millais were artists in Victorian England. Effie became Ruskin's wife at age 19 but divorced him after several years under the petition that the marriage was never consummated.After the divorce became final and a decent amount of time had elapsed Effie and Millais were married and went on to have 8 children.It was an interesting portrait of those victorian times from a rather privileged angle.
This was a really interesting historical and biographical story of Victorian ideals and how misunderstood they are by the general population. Effie had the courage and law to support her annulment of her marriage to John Ruskin after five years. John Ruskin refunsed to consumate the marriage and yet tried to make it look as if it were Effie Gray's fault. A very fascinating cultural history. I highly recommend this book.
A good history of the Millais family. The first part was better, but that was probably because that's well-worn territory. Apparently, family letters from later in life were just made public, so there was a lot written that may not have precedent before. Consequently, the second half was a little scattershot - it goes up through Effie's father's death, and then the next chapter goes back in time to when he's alive to talk about her sisters. But overall very informative.
What a life Victorian women led. Wanted to read this after Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose revealed the story of Effie, John Ruskin and Millais.
"If only John could prove his wife's insanity, then Effie could be sent away, and he would be free to work and travel. Effie could see the way her husband's mind was working...She had read enough novels as a girl to know what happened to mad wives." P. 112 (hardcover)
Now, whose mind was really "unstable"?
"If only John could prove his wife's insanity, then Effie could be sent away, and he would be free to work and travel. Effie could see the way her husband's mind was working...She had read enough novels as a girl to know what happened to mad wives." P. 112 (hardcover)
Now, whose mind was really "unstable"?
Thought it was an interesting historical account of women's rights during that era. Also enjoyed reading about the interplay among families.
Loved reading about the love triangle of Effie Gray, Ruskin, and Millais. A non-fictionalized account yet very enjoyable and lively.
Most gripping read - as much about the social political landscape of Victorian England as it is about the life of a most unusual woman.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspo...
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspo...
Comprehensive but uninspired biography of Effie Grey, the wife of art critic John Ruskin and artist John Everett Millais. The author's research is impressive, but she has a tendency to paraphrase rather than quote directly from her sources, which is infuriating when she uses letters as her source, as one would much rather read it in letter-writer's original words, rather than summarized and restated by the author. There is, however, a wealth of material presented here, and it is a fascinating bo...more
Very Well written. Spurred me on to read more about Ruskin, etc.
A frothy little biography that offers a glimpse into the life of Effie Gray, and thus of her two famous husbands, Ruskin and Millais. The details the author offers of Effie's life are charming at best, tragic at worst, and show how powerless Victorian women could be. But the biography falters in its attempts at art criticism and offers tantalizingly incomplete notes on what Effie's first husband thought of the art of her second.
Interesting book, although not something I'd suggest anyone rush out and read, unless they were particularly interested in the lives of the Pre-Raphelite painters.
Biographies about Victorian times make you feel lucky to live in the era of modern medicine.
The story is captivating but the writing is uninspired. Holding out hope for a movie.
Sep 01, 2011
Anne
marked it as didnt-finish
The book was good, but I'm going to wait for the movie.
May 21, 2013
Katie
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Jes
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
![Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and Millais [audiobook] (Audiobook)](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344193213s/11144602.jpg)
Dr. Suzanne Fagence Cooper was educated at Merton College, Oxford, Christie's Education and the Courtald Institute before becoming the Victoria & Albert Museum Research Fellow at Buckinghamshire New University in 1999. Her involvement with the V&A dates back to 1996, when she was appointed curator, and in 2001 she co-curated the V&A's major exhibition 'The Victorian Vision.'
Suzanne's p...more
More about Suzanne Fagence Cooper...
Suzanne's p...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
I thin...more
18 juil. 19:19
But Ruskin would not admit it until they did the test. He put her in front of many men-left them alone together and hoped for the ''bes...more
19 juil. 05:20