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Sep 16, 2010

willaful rated it:

I find it annoying that some reviewers criticize this novel on the basis of Chance having been a romance writer. If a book isn't to your tastes, that’s one thing, but I suspect these readers were too prejudiced by that information to give it a fair shake to begin with. Chance has always been an amazing writer; she's definitely moved from historical romance to historical fiction, but I have no complaints--not when she’s still writing such complex and fascinating windows into another time.
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0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2011

Christina rated it:

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2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 18, 2011

Monique rated it:

Whoa..wavered between a four and a five star rating for this book but alas had to admit that this novel was compulsively readable and interesting...I found myself reaching for this book every spare moment I had and I love that feeling because honestly I wasnt that sure this book would be all that it turned out to be..This is the story of Lucy, a woman born into high society, spoiled and married for the last four years and living a life that would be perfect except she suffers bouts of nervousnes More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2010

Mary rated it:

An Inconvenient Wife, although more complicated, is reminiscent of Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Megan Chance's heroine, Lucy Carleton dares to have lusty desires and creative passions in 1895 New York, much to the dismay of her husband, father and society friends. They all think she's lost her mind--and as was in vogue for that repressed era, a woman's psychological problems were assumed to be caused by her reproductive system. Despite consulting doctor after doctor for help, Lucy's husband coul More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 10, 2010

Kathleen rated it:

I ordered Megan Chance's An Inconvenient Wife from Amazon on impulse. I tend to love books about the “upper classes” in Victorian New York. I love Edith Wharton and gobbled up Caleb Carr's two books (The Alienist and Angel of Darkness) on that period with relish. E.L. Doctrow's Ragtime is still one of my favorite books. So when I read the description of An Inconvenient Wife it sounded like my kind of book. It arrived Thursday at 4, I finished it last night at midnight.

I won't say it More...

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Nov 13, 2010

Collsells rated it:

This is the exact time period that I'd love to travel back to and live a day. I just loved this book and have been searching for others like it, since I've read it.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2009

Rachel rated it:

I read this book last Summer at the beach. I could not put it down. I loved it...loved the writing and how she doesnt labour a point too much...it had everything in it from story,to history,sex to a twist !

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 24, 2011

Nina rated it:

New York in the late 1800's; Lucy Carleton is 30 years old, married to a handsome man, wears elegant gowns, and attends the best parties, but for the last four years she's been suffering from hysterical fits and depression. Lucy and her husband William have seen no less than ten doctors who have suggested many things, the latest, spending time in an asylum. William is desperate, but wants to find an alternative, and soon meets a new Doctor.

Victor Seth is a neurologist and hypnotist, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 18, 2011

Suze rated it:

What I learned from An Inconvenient Wife about life for society women in New York in the 1880s made me happy I grew up some 90 years later. Lucy Carelton is a passionate woman living in a repressed Victorian society. Descended from the Knickerbockers, she marries (beneath her) stockbroker William Carelton, believing that he shares her passions, at least in love. In fact, William is a social climber who has little use for painting and other indulgences that provide outlets for his wife's passio More...

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Jul 01, 2010

Jen rated it:

As I finished the last 124 pages this afternoon at a Cosi in Mt. Kisco, "An Inconvenient Wife has me in a spell, like Lucy's spell cast by Seth," I mused. I raced through to the end of the book, and then sadly, the end of the last paragraph, my mouth agape. As if in a trance, I swept up my half-empty iced latte, and made a slow start for the door. As I pushed through the 12' tall glass doors, littered with fingerprints of guests of all sizes, I thought, "Surely I haven't been read More...

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Dec 04, 2011

Kait rated it:

I loved this book and I could not put it down (I even read it during some of my college classes)! I picked this book up on impulse while perusing the college library fiction stacks and I wasn't sure I would enjoy the book. It sounded very similar to The Awakening by Kate Chopin or Room with a View by E.M. Forster, neither of whom I'm a fan. I thought I'd give it a try anyway and I was not disappointed.

The novel follows Mrs. Lucy Carelton, a woman who comes from high society and has More...

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Dec 21, 2010

Deb rated it:

Lucy is a society wife who suffers from "nervous disorders" and "uterine monomania" in the late 19th century. She has seen many doctors, but none seem to be able to cure her until she is under the care of Dr. Victor Seth, a neurologist who uses hypnosis to cure female patients. He discovers a passionate woman who has been told to button up her passion since she was a young girl. He helps her find her true self while falling in love with her "his creation" as he sees More...

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Feb 01, 2010

Lady of the Lake rated it:

I really liked this book the subject matter is an eye opener letting you know that Victorian women were property of the husband and there is no romance about the time period for women wether high society or lower classes woman were not their own person. So if you think it would be romantic to time travel the Heroes we read about in our romance novels are not the norm! It would be awful to be a woman back in time! No rights to anything other than your own thoughts and only if you never speak them More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 29, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

Great idea, poorly executed. The author's background as a romance novelist really shows-- think something with Fabio on the cover. Shallow characters, stale dialogue, and narration that directs your conclusions rather than eliciting them. I would LOVE to see this fascinating topic (Victorian era women diagnosed with "hysteria") tackled by someone more competent.

That said, it's reasonbly entertaining and a fast read, largely due to the subject matter. I would take this More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2011

Vicki rated it:

I was Intrigued by this period novel. Wealthy Women were treated like accessories to their husbands. They were expected to do as their husband expected. They had babies, shopped, entertained friends, organized dinners and balls and were expected to be very prim and proper. Lucy the main character did not fit the perfect mold. She loved to paint and draw and enjoy nature and passion and she did not want children, she wanted to pursue her passions. This book explores how women, who did not More...

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Sep 27, 2009

Heidi rated it:

Three stars because I could stand to read it. Definitely would not have read it just for itself, but it covers a period of history that I'm writing about and the characters are not so one-dimensional that to read about them is unbearably boring. On the other hand, they are definitely not shaded, unpredictable, multidimensional, or fully real. Victorian upper class society woman in New York is compelled to follow stultifying rules and becomes hysterical and neurasthenic through emotional and s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 10, 2011

Cathy rated it:

I highly reccommend this book! Set in 1885, this is the perfect book for anybody who likes historical fiction with romance, without the modern day "smut" that comes into play with some "romance" novels. Very tastefully written, and the reader feels Lucy's strain her society life puts on her. The reader will sympathize with her, even during the dark times that she herself creates. It takes a couple of twists I certainly didn't see coming and one simply can't put it down in More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 26, 2011

Josee rated it:

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Mar 08, 2010

Pamela rated it:

3.5 stars. My first book from this author. Actually, I've never heard of her before and I believe she has 4(?) books out. I'm having a little bit of a hard time rating this book. It's an interesting look at how women in the late 1800's were being diagnosed with "hysteria". If a woman might be exhibiting some sort of behavior that didn't coincide what society thought was the norm or proper it was believed in many cases that this was somehow related to the uterus or sexual release. I kno More...

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Dec 29, 2008

Kate rated it:

Mike recommended this book to me. He saw someone reading an airplane and thought I would like it. This is the story of a society wife in the late 1800 in New York. She feels stifled by her life and she and her husband go from doctor to doctor seeking a "cure" for her behavior and receiving horrible "treatments" along the way. It is amazing to think about how little freedom women had during this time period. I would hate to have lived back then. This book reminded me of T More...

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Oct 14, 2007

Miss_otis rated it:

I did like this book a great deal, even as it pissed me off HUGELY. Seriously, just the word “hysteria” in this context can send me on hour-long rants about the Victorian patriarchy and how women of certain social standings were delicate little flowers, and that the entire point of a woman's existence was apparently to serve (and service) men; certainly they weren’t to have sexual feelings at all, and if they did, then clearly, there was something wrong with them they had to be “cured” of. Not More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 26, 2011

April rated it:

I loved this book. I found some parts incredibly moving - moreso than I expected. I really felt for the character, how she was trapped in a society that had expectations for her that she could not escape from. It is really hard to imagine a world in which a person (such as a woman) did not even have the privilege/freedom to follow a passion she loved - such as being able to draw or write poetry. These are minor points in the book by the way, but I don't want to spoil anything.

I have More...

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Apr 28, 2011

Karen rated it:

Set in the late 19th Century in high society New York City, this book both informs and entertains with a credible, fast-moving plot, complex characters and a clever interviewing of voices. The chilling tale is all the more so because it is based in reality--the reality of what lives and choices even the most privileged women of that era enjoyed. Perhaps it could be a cautionary tale for those who would erode women's rights.

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Jan 18, 2009

Leslie rated it:

An interesting read about a woman from a wealthy family living in the Gilded Age in NYC. She is an "inconvenient wife" because she refuses to succumb to societal pressures to be the perfect wife. She proves to be an embarrassment to her husband and family. She is trapped in her world, but finds solace in the psychologist who claims that he can "fix" her. Read to find out what happens. It's a good ending!

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Feb 02, 2011

Lindi rated it:

Didn't quite hit the mark and the story didn't hold. I found the story dragged, especially at the beginning, and the characters had no real depth. Perhaps that's what the author wanted since the book deals with long-ago high society where manners, appearances, the color of a woman's gown, dinner parties, and marrying above or below (scandalous) one's class were the most important things in life.

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Feb 11, 2009

Dominique rated it:

A fun subway/airplane read, but I'm a sucker for historical fiction... so be warned. I also am fascinated by the idea of hypnosis. Does it really work? Is the goal in therapy really to get rid of problems? In the back of my mind, while reading this potboiler on the subway, I thought about this stuff. Don't know the answers but like thinking about the questions (and forgetting how much commuting I'm doing).

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Mar 22, 2010

Amanda rated it:

I found this book to be a little dark, but it's still a pretty good book. It gives you a feel for what life was like for society wives at the time...I imagine Lucy could have been a transplant from the late 20th century, meaning that her free spirt and ambition would be encouraged in this day and age versus her husband and her father who just thought she was insane.

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Aug 03, 2011

Jodi rated it:

We tend to believe that the role of being a woman is difficult in our current culture and time. This book shows the reader how the life of a woman in Victorian times was near impossible. For a woman not to be allowed passion or free thought is unacceptable by today's standards, yet that was the norm in the 1880's. Definitely worth reading.

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Nov 13, 2010

Kristi rated it:

Wow! I loved the ending of this book. It blew my mind and made me want to stand up and cherr. There were things I liked about the character and things I didn't. I cant give it more stars because of the affair in the book. I see how it was intregal to the telling of the story but cant recommend it to all of my friends.

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May 07, 2010

Jenny rated it:

I am surprised at how much I LOVED this book! I almost gave it 5 stars. But it's not quite in "The Tea Rose" stratosphere. The subject matter of early neurology is something completely new to me which I loved. The story was completely scandalous, and I loved how at any one time the main characters - Lucy, William, the Doctor, and the Father - switched roles in who was the hero/heroine and the villain. Even at the end, it's still hard to figure out who you were rooting for all along.

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