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The Woman Who Was Chesterton: The Life of Frances Chesterton, Wife of English Author G.K. Chesterton
This is a love story. But it is also a detective story. And best of all, it is a true story, told here for the the first time. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a romantic, a writer of detective tales, and a teller of the truth. His own story and the stories he told are becoming better and better known. But what has remained unknown is the story of the most important person in his his wife Frances.
Nancy Carpentier Brown has done incredible detective work to uncover the mystery of Frances, tracking a figure who managed to leave very few traces of herself.
It is quite likely that as more is discovered about Frances, more biographies will be written of her, and they will be even more complete. But they will all come back to this one.
Nancy Carpentier Brown has done incredible detective work to uncover the mystery of Frances, tracking a figure who managed to leave very few traces of herself.
It is quite likely that as more is discovered about Frances, more biographies will be written of her, and they will be even more complete. But they will all come back to this one.
303 pages, Paperback
First published September 18, 2015
23 people are currently reading
448 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 25, 2018
In some ways, this book leaves you wanting to know so much more, and yet, in other ways, you really do understand the woman who was Chesterton better. After reading this and following the timeline of his life it seems that without Frances, GK might not have risen to the heights he did. I love her sincere faith and quiet life.
Nancy Carpenter Brown does a good job of helping us visualize life with the Chesterton's and this book will continue to color all my readings of their works. As I write I am listening to the lovely carol How Far is it to Bethlehem? Lyrics by Frances Chesterton.
Nancy Carpenter Brown does a good job of helping us visualize life with the Chesterton's and this book will continue to color all my readings of their works. As I write I am listening to the lovely carol How Far is it to Bethlehem? Lyrics by Frances Chesterton.
May 7, 2018
If someone wants to read about one of the wittiest writers from England. A large, robust, and very round man in spectacles who took on the biting atheists of his day with humor and compassion, always winning his rounds, G.K. Chesterton surprisingly had a soft side to him.
It was his wife. From the moment he met her, he was smitten and spent his life hopelessly in love with her. Who was this woman who had this kind of power over such a man?
She was born Frances Blogg into an intellectual family in a Bohemian neighborhood. Her parents made sure she got the best education which included one of the first kindergartens and later at a ladies' progressive school. She belonged to a debate society she and her brother Knollys helped originate and met Gilbert who later joined.
Frances turned out to be Gilbert's invaluable scribe, secretary, organizer and supporter. A writer in her own right, she cheerfully deferred to her husband's writing whom she found superior. However, she was the source of inspiration for a lot of his writing and he took some of her writing and re-adapted it.
I cannot help compare this to Thomas Hardy, who married his wife because of her station in life, and the fact that she married him as an attempt to get her own mediocre writing published.
Chesterton was devoted to Frances all his life and this biography is a delightful love story.
It was his wife. From the moment he met her, he was smitten and spent his life hopelessly in love with her. Who was this woman who had this kind of power over such a man?
She was born Frances Blogg into an intellectual family in a Bohemian neighborhood. Her parents made sure she got the best education which included one of the first kindergartens and later at a ladies' progressive school. She belonged to a debate society she and her brother Knollys helped originate and met Gilbert who later joined.
Frances turned out to be Gilbert's invaluable scribe, secretary, organizer and supporter. A writer in her own right, she cheerfully deferred to her husband's writing whom she found superior. However, she was the source of inspiration for a lot of his writing and he took some of her writing and re-adapted it.
I cannot help compare this to Thomas Hardy, who married his wife because of her station in life, and the fact that she married him as an attempt to get her own mediocre writing published.
Chesterton was devoted to Frances all his life and this biography is a delightful love story.
March 26, 2017
What an extraordinary woman Frances was. I really enjoyed reading about. I don't think GKC would have been who was without her.
May 2, 2018
A fast, beautiful read.
There are a few moments of repetition, and of almost-hagiography, but Brown's reliance on primary sources and refusal to speculate beyond what we can reasonably infer keeps the narrative on an even keel. Brown reveals an incredible network of the Chestertons' friends - I was particularly fascinated by the friendships between women and the wives of famous men. Frances' decisions - to fully support her husband, to "cook, clean, mend, and pray" - will no doubt be unpalatable to modern readers. Joke's on you, it was her free choice, so your modern -ism has no choice but to accept her joyful submission.
There are so many asides worth exploring, like the fact that Frances, and possibly G.K., had lifelong depression, that G. K. Chesterton met Mussolini, or that Fulton Sheen was one of the priests who said G.K.'s funeral mass. Brown wove together a thoughtful selection, arrangement, and commentary of sources.
The most important fact, though, is the lifelong marriage of Gilbert and Frances. (I made the mistake of reading the last few chapters in public. I cried.) This is as much a well-researched biography as it is an inspiration and a guidebook to anyone pursuing marriage - or really, anyone who wants to be a good friend.
We have so few models of Catholic married saints, and I am prematurely but confidently adding Gilbert and Frances to the roster.
There are a few moments of repetition, and of almost-hagiography, but Brown's reliance on primary sources and refusal to speculate beyond what we can reasonably infer keeps the narrative on an even keel. Brown reveals an incredible network of the Chestertons' friends - I was particularly fascinated by the friendships between women and the wives of famous men. Frances' decisions - to fully support her husband, to "cook, clean, mend, and pray" - will no doubt be unpalatable to modern readers. Joke's on you, it was her free choice, so your modern -ism has no choice but to accept her joyful submission.
There are so many asides worth exploring, like the fact that Frances, and possibly G.K., had lifelong depression, that G. K. Chesterton met Mussolini, or that Fulton Sheen was one of the priests who said G.K.'s funeral mass. Brown wove together a thoughtful selection, arrangement, and commentary of sources.
The most important fact, though, is the lifelong marriage of Gilbert and Frances. (I made the mistake of reading the last few chapters in public. I cried.) This is as much a well-researched biography as it is an inspiration and a guidebook to anyone pursuing marriage - or really, anyone who wants to be a good friend.
We have so few models of Catholic married saints, and I am prematurely but confidently adding Gilbert and Frances to the roster.
September 27, 2017
Frances Chesterton was a great woman of virtue with so many qualities to admire and strive to emulate.
This book was profoundly moving for me.
I really admire Frances Chesterton and I love finding new people to love and admire in history.
She is a great example of what happens when one person influences and helps another-- especially a spouse, for without her, her husband G.K. Chesterton would never have given the world all he did with his writings and such.
This book was profoundly moving for me.
I really admire Frances Chesterton and I love finding new people to love and admire in history.
She is a great example of what happens when one person influences and helps another-- especially a spouse, for without her, her husband G.K. Chesterton would never have given the world all he did with his writings and such.
November 4, 2015
First off I love the playful title based on one of GKC's books.
With the recent canonization of Louis and Zelie Martin it is nice to look into the life of a couple. With the investigation regarding G.K. Chesterton in the process of canonization, I wanted to know more about his wife. In many ways she seemed a private person thrust into her husbands public life. When GKC wrote his autobiography she asked him to keep her out of it. So mostly there has only been some general but not substantiative information about her in subsequent biographies of her husband.
The old saying about "Behind every great man, is a great woman" seems to totally apply here. Or more so what Jesus said about marriage that the "Two become one." GKC's famous absentmindedness certainly required a certain level of care from Francis. But there relationship was so more than that. Much of their marriage involved each nursing the other through various illnesses. GKC was able to be more fully himself with her help.
> “Frances’ life gives us hope. She experienced sorrows and obstacles; she faced family deaths; she watched as her dream of a large family faded, and her writing career was subsumed by the brighter light of her husband. Yet she remained faithful, hopeful, and loving. While not strictly a forerunner of her husband, she served as his sometime John the Baptist, and might have said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
This paragraph from the book is a nice summary.
With the recent canonization of Louis and Zelie Martin it is nice to look into the life of a couple. With the investigation regarding G.K. Chesterton in the process of canonization, I wanted to know more about his wife. In many ways she seemed a private person thrust into her husbands public life. When GKC wrote his autobiography she asked him to keep her out of it. So mostly there has only been some general but not substantiative information about her in subsequent biographies of her husband.
The old saying about "Behind every great man, is a great woman" seems to totally apply here. Or more so what Jesus said about marriage that the "Two become one." GKC's famous absentmindedness certainly required a certain level of care from Francis. But there relationship was so more than that. Much of their marriage involved each nursing the other through various illnesses. GKC was able to be more fully himself with her help.
> “Frances’ life gives us hope. She experienced sorrows and obstacles; she faced family deaths; she watched as her dream of a large family faded, and her writing career was subsumed by the brighter light of her husband. Yet she remained faithful, hopeful, and loving. While not strictly a forerunner of her husband, she served as his sometime John the Baptist, and might have said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
This paragraph from the book is a nice summary.
September 20, 2018
I had this one waiting on my kindle list along with some others.
An amazing book that must have took a lot of work to make, as since Carpenter Brown says, Frances thought it better to stay out of the public eye. One comes to understand how much they influenced each other out of love. A remarkable book.
An amazing book that must have took a lot of work to make, as since Carpenter Brown says, Frances thought it better to stay out of the public eye. One comes to understand how much they influenced each other out of love. A remarkable book.
April 6, 2018
I found the book's subject interesting, and that kept me reading through the whole book, but the writing was middling at best. Some sections included painstaking footnotes on things that didn't really need documentation (a British middle class turn-of-the-century wife routinely served tea in the afternoons? I didn't need an extensive excerpt from a letter to confirm that.) while other sections made remarkably sweeping claims with nary a footnote in sight.
Also, while I have no objection to a sympathetic autobiographer, Brown left me unconvinced that she would have been willing to deal with any actually negative issues in Frances Chesterton's life or character had she found evidence for them. Good non-fiction authors establish a credible ethos, but this author left me questioning how accurate of a biography I had just read.
Additionally, the entire book would have greatly benefited from a thorough editing. There were far too many detailed side notes of no real relevance, as well as a fairly repetitive habit of explaining to the reader once again just how wonderful Frances Chesterton really was.
This is the first biography of Frances Chesterton, and Brown has clearly done a great deal of research to put it together; I just wish the final product had been better written.
Also, while I have no objection to a sympathetic autobiographer, Brown left me unconvinced that she would have been willing to deal with any actually negative issues in Frances Chesterton's life or character had she found evidence for them. Good non-fiction authors establish a credible ethos, but this author left me questioning how accurate of a biography I had just read.
Additionally, the entire book would have greatly benefited from a thorough editing. There were far too many detailed side notes of no real relevance, as well as a fairly repetitive habit of explaining to the reader once again just how wonderful Frances Chesterton really was.
This is the first biography of Frances Chesterton, and Brown has clearly done a great deal of research to put it together; I just wish the final product had been better written.
April 26, 2021
Wonderful book about a forgotten, yet truly important, woman in history. Frances Chesterton is the "saint behind the saint"--the woman who "brought the cross" to Chesterton. Many tears were shed upon reading of Gilbert and Frances' marriage, the loss of Gilbert while Frances lived, and the legacy they both left behind. I had not a clue how well-published Frances was, and how they fed off of one another, which shows in their marvelous writing. No doubt Brown's book will open the door for many others to follow. I have the utmost desire to visit England now, to see where this famous couple lived and wrote!
December 18, 2015
Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton was a larger than life figure, both literally and figuratively. His personality was enormous, as was the amount of brilliant writings that he contributed to the world. Due to his larger than life personality, people now tend to overlook the fact that he was married. This might seem like a travesty to his wife, Frances, but she actually wanted this way. The author, Nancy Carpentier Brown, and I agree that the wife of such an influential Catholic should not be left in the shadows, whether she'd like it or not. Therefore, Ms. Brown did a great deal of painstaking research to write her book, The Woman Who Was Chesterton, and shine the spotlight on a remarkable woman who managed to avoid the spotlight her entire life.
You might recognize Nancy Carpentier Brown from her other book on Frances Chesterton - How Far is it to Bethlehem. In that book, we got to see Frances from her plays and poetry, and those painted us a brilliant picture of Frances. Her new book illuminates her life even more for us. In the introduction, we are treated to a beautiful summary of Gilbert and Frances' life and marriage. "Frances and Gilbert worked together as a team; they were lovers and friends, writing coaches and companions. They worked, ate, laughed, and slept together for thirty-five years, dependent on each other physically, emotionally, and intellectually. The love between them defined her life - and his. [ . . . . ] It is not an exaggeration to say that she was the person who would affect Gilbert's life more profoundly than anyone. He was totally dependent on her for his happiness."
The book then takes us through a chronicle of her life. The first chapter chronicles her early life, and by early life I mean the first 27 years. This chapter includes mention of her parents and sisters and touches briefly on the mystery of her father's military career. What was fascinating to me is that she was the governess of Rudyard Kipling's children! Chapter Two elaborates on Frances' courtship to Gilbert, and the absolute giddiness he felt when with her. In this chapter, Ms. Brown includes previously unpublished letters between the two and also compares the writing of Frances and Gilbert to show how in sync the two were. Chapter Three details the wedding, mentions the lack of photographs from the wedding, and includes an untrue and awful tale that Gilbert's sister-in-law (his brother's wife) wrote about Frances and Gilbert's wedding and marriage. It was completely unfounded, and an awful thing for someone to write about their worst enemy, let alone their family. I could go on giving you a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, but you'll have to buy the book.
The closing chapter which touched on Frances' death, obituary, and legacy was the most moving to me. It underscores the fact of how much Frances was subsumed into the man that was G.K. Chesterton. However, it also emphasized how brilliant, talented, and deeply religious of a woman she was as well. It's an old, but true adage that behind every great man, there is a great woman. This is true of Gilbert and Frances as well. Ms. Brown did a splendid job of capturing Frances' life and putting it on paper for us. She also managed to include Gilbert in this book without him overshadowing his wife, which is no small feat. If you want to know what made him such a great man, and possible saint one day, then you have to know his wife, and I know of no better book to accomplish that than The Woman Who Was Chesterton. Be sure to pick up a copy of this book and How Far is it to Bethlehem. You won't regret it!
You might recognize Nancy Carpentier Brown from her other book on Frances Chesterton - How Far is it to Bethlehem. In that book, we got to see Frances from her plays and poetry, and those painted us a brilliant picture of Frances. Her new book illuminates her life even more for us. In the introduction, we are treated to a beautiful summary of Gilbert and Frances' life and marriage. "Frances and Gilbert worked together as a team; they were lovers and friends, writing coaches and companions. They worked, ate, laughed, and slept together for thirty-five years, dependent on each other physically, emotionally, and intellectually. The love between them defined her life - and his. [ . . . . ] It is not an exaggeration to say that she was the person who would affect Gilbert's life more profoundly than anyone. He was totally dependent on her for his happiness."
The book then takes us through a chronicle of her life. The first chapter chronicles her early life, and by early life I mean the first 27 years. This chapter includes mention of her parents and sisters and touches briefly on the mystery of her father's military career. What was fascinating to me is that she was the governess of Rudyard Kipling's children! Chapter Two elaborates on Frances' courtship to Gilbert, and the absolute giddiness he felt when with her. In this chapter, Ms. Brown includes previously unpublished letters between the two and also compares the writing of Frances and Gilbert to show how in sync the two were. Chapter Three details the wedding, mentions the lack of photographs from the wedding, and includes an untrue and awful tale that Gilbert's sister-in-law (his brother's wife) wrote about Frances and Gilbert's wedding and marriage. It was completely unfounded, and an awful thing for someone to write about their worst enemy, let alone their family. I could go on giving you a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, but you'll have to buy the book.
The closing chapter which touched on Frances' death, obituary, and legacy was the most moving to me. It underscores the fact of how much Frances was subsumed into the man that was G.K. Chesterton. However, it also emphasized how brilliant, talented, and deeply religious of a woman she was as well. It's an old, but true adage that behind every great man, there is a great woman. This is true of Gilbert and Frances as well. Ms. Brown did a splendid job of capturing Frances' life and putting it on paper for us. She also managed to include Gilbert in this book without him overshadowing his wife, which is no small feat. If you want to know what made him such a great man, and possible saint one day, then you have to know his wife, and I know of no better book to accomplish that than The Woman Who Was Chesterton. Be sure to pick up a copy of this book and How Far is it to Bethlehem. You won't regret it!
November 22, 2018
“Many who knew her, thought it a pity that so substantive and rare a creature should have been absorbed into the life of another, and be only known in a certain circle as a wife...But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” -George Eliot, Middlemarch
This happens to be one of my favorite quotes, so I was excited to see it appear in the beginning of The Woman Who Was Chesterton. After reading about Frances’ life, I think the quote accurately describes her. Certainly she was a wife of which she appeared to embrace fully and joyfully but she was also a writer, loving aunt and godmother, secretary, gardener, and so much more. Another quote from a different book I really like is the following: “They give way to neither Victorian fainting nor feminism’s touchiness. They give us a third way to which femininity is defined as humility joined with power, sensitivity with guts.” (Paul Miller, A Loving Life) This also describes Frances. She was an interesting lady to read about as she bravely led a generous, productive life in spite of the many trials and tragedies she suffered. She was a private person, so there were times I felt guilty for reading her biography, but then I reasoned it was all right as many of her family members shared their memories with the author and the author does a respectful job detailing Frances and G.K. Chesterton’s lives. The Chestertons really seemed to have a healthy, loving relationship. I didn’t really know much about them before reading this – I actually read The Chestertons and the Golden Key a few months ago and was interested in the eccentric but loving couple, so I researched them and came across this biography. G. K. Chesterton fans will most likely want to read about his wife, who was the driving force behind his writings and fame as well as a writer in her own right. I was also excited to learn that Frances is the author of “How Far Is It To Bethlehem,” a lovely poem that eventually was set to music.
This happens to be one of my favorite quotes, so I was excited to see it appear in the beginning of The Woman Who Was Chesterton. After reading about Frances’ life, I think the quote accurately describes her. Certainly she was a wife of which she appeared to embrace fully and joyfully but she was also a writer, loving aunt and godmother, secretary, gardener, and so much more. Another quote from a different book I really like is the following: “They give way to neither Victorian fainting nor feminism’s touchiness. They give us a third way to which femininity is defined as humility joined with power, sensitivity with guts.” (Paul Miller, A Loving Life) This also describes Frances. She was an interesting lady to read about as she bravely led a generous, productive life in spite of the many trials and tragedies she suffered. She was a private person, so there were times I felt guilty for reading her biography, but then I reasoned it was all right as many of her family members shared their memories with the author and the author does a respectful job detailing Frances and G.K. Chesterton’s lives. The Chestertons really seemed to have a healthy, loving relationship. I didn’t really know much about them before reading this – I actually read The Chestertons and the Golden Key a few months ago and was interested in the eccentric but loving couple, so I researched them and came across this biography. G. K. Chesterton fans will most likely want to read about his wife, who was the driving force behind his writings and fame as well as a writer in her own right. I was also excited to learn that Frances is the author of “How Far Is It To Bethlehem,” a lovely poem that eventually was set to music.
January 8, 2016
This was the strangest book I've ever read in that I couldn't put it down, but didn't know why. Frances seems unremarkable, which is how she would have wanted us to see her, I'm sure. I kept wondering "what it is that makes her so special... what am I missing... why am I so eager to keep reading this?" Of course I gleamed from the book's cover, before even opening it, that I would not be reading about a woman of great deeds, but I expected I suppose to read of hidden virtues such as pepper the life of St. Therese (a soul of great humility), but that is not the case. Even this book must mostly leave the reader to read between the lines of everyday correspondence to decipher who Frances Chesterton was. From the bits and pieces a sense of a good, kind, loving, humble woman emerges. But concrete facts seem few and far between. As a woman who asked her husband not to even mention her in his autobiography and who wrote of destroying letters, this surely is the way she wanted it. But as a reader I find myself still wishing more information could somehow be available. Certain facts, though, I did wonder if the author could have elaborated on more had she chosen. For example, she references a time when the couple could tease each other about Gilbert's ex girlfriends. Especially with a poem included earlier in which Gilbert apologized to Frances for spending time with at least one of them, to have no source quoted as to the later mutual teasing puzzled me. Also we are told that she wrote an amendment to her will writing someone and their children, with regard to funding their education, out, with no mention of why or even a simple statement that no information on the subject is available. These are the two examples that stand out in my mind of wondering why the author didn't say more which I mention because they resonate with me for whatever reason; HOWEVER, the work seems VERY well-researched. Even with all the information discovered and presented in this book, I do hope that some way, somehow, this woman's life and character will continue coming to light and that the pieces I still feel I would like to know more about are not lost to this world forever.
May 1, 2020
I love biographies. And I will stand by that, damn the Academy! They are chronological, they show change over time, they slowly, in perfect time, reveal a soul flowering through the various stages of life. I'm going to read a biography a month. They are glorious.
Things Frances Chesterton and I have in common:
-terrible, debilitating back problems. poor woman born too early for chiropractors, practically the only thing i wouldn't trade for the Edwardian era
-HATE rain...literal moods and life decisions dependent on the weather. I'm not truly myself unless it's sunny.
-married to/dating an absentminded (semi-)celebrity
- only ever considered "organized" when in comparison to that absentminded celebrity LOL
-shockingly practicing a religion - apparently, when GKC was still an agnostic, and Frances still an Anglican, he was shocked that she not only HAD a religion but that she PRACTICED a religion (228). This is generally the reaction I receive from men too. None converted...yet.
-personally knows JM Barrie (jk, but I love him enough! imagine being FRIENDS with Barrie, Hilaire Belloc, Max Beerbohm?!)
"Therefore I bring these rhymes to you
Who brought the cross to me" - GKC.
The story of her faith guiding his conversion to Catholicism is beautiful, and I was sobbing at his death like Hilaire Belloc in the pub :( :( :(
My only complaint is that the book was a bit repetitive, and those of the footnotes that were merely citations should have been endnotes. And I just didn't like some of Frances's poetry, haha. shrug
As I continue to read my (shockingly!) first GKC, Eugenics and Other Evils, I am quite glad to have this context, and can't wait to find/start a local(-er) Chesterton Society :)
Things Frances Chesterton and I have in common:
-terrible, debilitating back problems. poor woman born too early for chiropractors, practically the only thing i wouldn't trade for the Edwardian era
-HATE rain...literal moods and life decisions dependent on the weather. I'm not truly myself unless it's sunny.
-married to/dating an absentminded (semi-)celebrity
- only ever considered "organized" when in comparison to that absentminded celebrity LOL
-shockingly practicing a religion - apparently, when GKC was still an agnostic, and Frances still an Anglican, he was shocked that she not only HAD a religion but that she PRACTICED a religion (228). This is generally the reaction I receive from men too. None converted...yet.
-personally knows JM Barrie (jk, but I love him enough! imagine being FRIENDS with Barrie, Hilaire Belloc, Max Beerbohm?!)
"Therefore I bring these rhymes to you
Who brought the cross to me" - GKC.
The story of her faith guiding his conversion to Catholicism is beautiful, and I was sobbing at his death like Hilaire Belloc in the pub :( :( :(
My only complaint is that the book was a bit repetitive, and those of the footnotes that were merely citations should have been endnotes. And I just didn't like some of Frances's poetry, haha. shrug
As I continue to read my (shockingly!) first GKC, Eugenics and Other Evils, I am quite glad to have this context, and can't wait to find/start a local(-er) Chesterton Society :)
March 13, 2020
The Woman who was Chesterton fed my heart and mind in a way I didn’t expect.
Frances Chesterton wasn’t famous. She didn’t have a highly successful career in the traditional sense.
This book is great because it tells the story of a woman who was faithful in the mundane, repetitive tasks of life. She married G. K. Chesterton, a man who became famous. She lived in his shadow, and she was fine with that. She even enjoyed it. She found it fulfilling to do what her husband needed.
This is the type of book I want to read. My life is normal. I’m not famous. I don’t lead a glamorous life, and chances are I never will. I like to read about women like me. Women who care for their families with faithfulness even when it’s hard.
Frances Chesterton served God even when it was hard and when her life took turns she didn’t expect (or even want). She worked hard taking care of her husband, helping him to manage his busy life, and serving her extended family. In the midst of all that business, she also found time to write poetry and plays. She is a woman who did what was right even when it wasn’t easy.
“[Frances]...quietly carried the cross within the context of her own life, through the duties of the married state...And, as an enduring example to married woman, she did so through the very basic, repetitive duties of her state in life.”
Frances Chesterton wasn’t famous. She didn’t have a highly successful career in the traditional sense.
This book is great because it tells the story of a woman who was faithful in the mundane, repetitive tasks of life. She married G. K. Chesterton, a man who became famous. She lived in his shadow, and she was fine with that. She even enjoyed it. She found it fulfilling to do what her husband needed.
This is the type of book I want to read. My life is normal. I’m not famous. I don’t lead a glamorous life, and chances are I never will. I like to read about women like me. Women who care for their families with faithfulness even when it’s hard.
Frances Chesterton served God even when it was hard and when her life took turns she didn’t expect (or even want). She worked hard taking care of her husband, helping him to manage his busy life, and serving her extended family. In the midst of all that business, she also found time to write poetry and plays. She is a woman who did what was right even when it wasn’t easy.
“[Frances]...quietly carried the cross within the context of her own life, through the duties of the married state...And, as an enduring example to married woman, she did so through the very basic, repetitive duties of her state in life.”
December 21, 2015
A five star book. The writing is awkward in places and feels a bit clumsy, however, the volume of research and storytelling offered more than makes up for any errors in presentation.
Brown has climbed quite a mountain in researching and compiling an engaging and passionate portrait of Frances Chesterton. Mrs. Chesterton was a deeply private soul who ordered most of her love letters and journals to be destroyed after death. Brown has drawn back the veil on a gorgeous, artistic and sensitive soul who has much to teach us - namely how to love GKC even more.
Brown has given us an insider's view of England's Catholic giant and helped us to steal a peak at the relationship that fueled the fire of Chesterton's passionate life.
In a way similar to how McCullough celebrated the love between John and Abigail Adams, Brown invites the Chestertons into our lives and gives us a chance to fall in love with them as a couple and as individual souls who are made whole through true marriage.
I am deeply indebted to Mrs. Brown for her scholarship and passionate work. Frances has become a very special mentor for me because of NCB's impressive work.
Brown has climbed quite a mountain in researching and compiling an engaging and passionate portrait of Frances Chesterton. Mrs. Chesterton was a deeply private soul who ordered most of her love letters and journals to be destroyed after death. Brown has drawn back the veil on a gorgeous, artistic and sensitive soul who has much to teach us - namely how to love GKC even more.
Brown has given us an insider's view of England's Catholic giant and helped us to steal a peak at the relationship that fueled the fire of Chesterton's passionate life.
In a way similar to how McCullough celebrated the love between John and Abigail Adams, Brown invites the Chestertons into our lives and gives us a chance to fall in love with them as a couple and as individual souls who are made whole through true marriage.
I am deeply indebted to Mrs. Brown for her scholarship and passionate work. Frances has become a very special mentor for me because of NCB's impressive work.
March 25, 2021
I appreciate the effort that was made to pull back the veil a bit on a very private person’s life. Frances Chesterton was a talented and remarkable woman in her own right and this book left me loving the whole Chesterton clan even more than I already did. I would say that the writing itself would really only get three stars here - everything from the title on sort of keeps Frances tucked in Chesterton’s shadow in spite of trying to give credit where credit is due. Her husband would not have the career he had if it was not for her and that much is made clear, repeatedly, yet I was left wanting to hear more about Frances. For a woman who suffered so much, wrote so beautifully and knew so many interesting and influential people, the story as told here feels incomplete. I suspect the real problem is the lack of available information, still, the groundwork has been laid for future biographers. Four stars because the Chestertons are a fascinating literary couple and I find their work as well as the number of conversions that occurred through their friendship with others to be remarkable. I just wish this book had captured more about what drew so many others to them and, through them, to the faith.
December 15, 2024
First, I have to say that this is an unfortunate title. It suggests that we are going to learn that G. K. Chesterton was actually a woman. It also suggests that the only notable thing about Frances Chesterton was that she was G. K.'s wife, which is unfortunate since the whole point of the book is that Frances was a person of substance in her own right.
This is a biography of GKC's wife. Frances came from a well-off family. She and GK seemed to have had an excellent marriage. He was not the easiest person to be married to. He was wildly absent minded, tended towards sloppiness and drink. Frances gave order to his life. She ran the finances and organized his schedule.
Frances wrote some decent poetry and plays. She did charity work. She was a good friend. She suffered poor health through much of her life. She seems to have been something of a hypochondriac, although Brown would deny that.
Brown does a good job gathering all the evidence. She argues convincingly that the couple's failure to have children was a medical issue. Frances' sister-in-law Ada attacked Frances in a book she wrote. Brown convincingly rebuts Ada's claim.
This is a book for GKC completist, which I confess to.
This is a biography of GKC's wife. Frances came from a well-off family. She and GK seemed to have had an excellent marriage. He was not the easiest person to be married to. He was wildly absent minded, tended towards sloppiness and drink. Frances gave order to his life. She ran the finances and organized his schedule.
Frances wrote some decent poetry and plays. She did charity work. She was a good friend. She suffered poor health through much of her life. She seems to have been something of a hypochondriac, although Brown would deny that.
Brown does a good job gathering all the evidence. She argues convincingly that the couple's failure to have children was a medical issue. Frances' sister-in-law Ada attacked Frances in a book she wrote. Brown convincingly rebuts Ada's claim.
This is a book for GKC completist, which I confess to.
August 12, 2023
I came across this book in my study of spiritual giant, GK Chesterton a few months ago. The biography of his wife, Frances, a writer herself, and the one who brought GK Chesterton, the world-changing author and theologian to faith in Christ and many say, made him who he was. Yet we never hear anything about her because she made him promise never to mention her in his writing. What a delight to get to know this incredible, humble woman of God.
Frances’ quiet strength and giftedness inspire me to give myself to the work that is mine to do without concern for who gets the credit, simply for the joy that the world is better because of it. The light of her life is still emanating today.
Frances’ quiet strength and giftedness inspire me to give myself to the work that is mine to do without concern for who gets the credit, simply for the joy that the world is better because of it. The light of her life is still emanating today.
June 30, 2020
To say Frances Chesterton is fascinating is quite an understatement.
How unfortunate that we have so little of her left. Nancy Carpenter Brown does a terrific job of piecing together all available clues and giving us an inspiring and compelling read on such an important and influential figure. A must-read to understand the profound grounding effect she had on G.K. Chesterton, and how this shaped their whole life together.
How unfortunate that we have so little of her left. Nancy Carpenter Brown does a terrific job of piecing together all available clues and giving us an inspiring and compelling read on such an important and influential figure. A must-read to understand the profound grounding effect she had on G.K. Chesterton, and how this shaped their whole life together.
December 28, 2018
Such a Beautiful story of Frances, who seems to have been forgotten in all the (warranted) praise of GKC. Her story is both simple and compelling and speaks to the seemingly mundane tasks of relationship and marriage that actually foster love and companionship in marriage and community. Her poetry was new to me, and I look forward to delving into her work this year.
December 30, 2018
This was the first book I've read on G.K. Chesterton's wife and it was a good introduction to this lady who was known mainly for being the famous Chesterton's wife. It is clear that a large part of who G.K. Chesterton was and so much of what he accomplished was largely credited to his faithful, supportive, godly wife, Frances.
April 7, 2023
This is a fine love story. G.K. Chesterton was head-over-heals in love with Frances from the minute he met her. Fame came to him but she attempted to avoid the spotlight.
Comment:Ms. Brown brings Frances Chesterton, a fine poet in her own right to life. Well Worth reading even if some of G.K. Chesterton's books are difficult to read.
Comment:Ms. Brown brings Frances Chesterton, a fine poet in her own right to life. Well Worth reading even if some of G.K. Chesterton's books are difficult to read.
February 8, 2021
What an interesting picture of a Christian life! I’ve found something of a kindred spirit in Frances, and loved getting to know her. It’s not the most riveting biography I’ve ever read— but you can’t read go wrong with such interesting material and so much beautiful quoted devotional poetry!
March 19, 2019
I loved this book !
May 15, 2024
A lovely biography about a captivating couple. Especially worthwhile for those struggling with infertility.
Want to read
August 21, 2024Recommended on pints with Chesterton episode 7
June 29, 2025
The best part for me was the poetry she wrote after GKC died. She suffered a lot, it seems, but none of it could diminish her love for her husband or her Savior!
February 10, 2016
A well done, fair but also enlightening biography of G.K. Chesterton's wife. It beautifully tells not only Frances's story, but the story of a loving, creative, marriage.
May 18, 2017
Wonderful insights into the life and struggles of a beautiful woman who was half of a very saintly couple. Brown writes in a way that keeps the reader engaged.
December 4, 2018
Excellent!
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