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Maggie—Her Marriage
Beautiful, rebellious, and proud, young Maggie Hamilton was determined to rise above the crude, impoverished life her blacksmith father had imposed on the family.
The town women laughed at Maggie's ambition—until John Hobart, the richest, most powerful man in the county, fell in love with her.
John had not dreamt of marrying her; he had set out to seduce her. But Maggie would not be seduced; the price she had set was more than marriage. And if this man couldn't meet it, she would find another who could…
The town women laughed at Maggie's ambition—until John Hobart, the richest, most powerful man in the county, fell in love with her.
John had not dreamt of marrying her; he had set out to seduce her. But Maggie would not be seduced; the price she had set was more than marriage. And if this man couldn't meet it, she would find another who could…
172 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
63 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Caldwell
114 books568 followers Also known by the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner.
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 24, 2020
I didn't re-call reading any of Taylor Caldwell's books before and this one looked interesting. Since a lot of her books are no longer available at local libraries I found a used copy at Amazon.
Ms. Caldwell is very graphic in her writing about a woman who lived among others in utter poverty as she grew up. Even though that aspect of her life changes, there is still a "poverty of soul" that follows her until the very end of the book. It's not a "pretty story". The whole plot is about her struggles to understand what love is all about. Unfortunately, the main character, Margaret, has people in her life (and not a few and not insignificant people, either) who truly don't love her so there's a lot of conflict there.
The author is fairly inconsistent in how she portrays the thoughts and actions of her main characters so it's a stretch to follow her thinking. One minute they say something sensible and the next minute they're hollering unkindly and indelicately to one another. Most of the characters seem to be very emotionally unstable. Fortunately, the book is 160 pages so it didn't take long to read. I could see how, written today, it would be easy to stretch the drama out to 300 or so pages.
The book ends hopefully, which is good. But it's a real journey getting there.
Ms. Caldwell is very graphic in her writing about a woman who lived among others in utter poverty as she grew up. Even though that aspect of her life changes, there is still a "poverty of soul" that follows her until the very end of the book. It's not a "pretty story". The whole plot is about her struggles to understand what love is all about. Unfortunately, the main character, Margaret, has people in her life (and not a few and not insignificant people, either) who truly don't love her so there's a lot of conflict there.
The author is fairly inconsistent in how she portrays the thoughts and actions of her main characters so it's a stretch to follow her thinking. One minute they say something sensible and the next minute they're hollering unkindly and indelicately to one another. Most of the characters seem to be very emotionally unstable. Fortunately, the book is 160 pages so it didn't take long to read. I could see how, written today, it would be easy to stretch the drama out to 300 or so pages.
The book ends hopefully, which is good. But it's a real journey getting there.
August 6, 2014
Cómo explicar...el libro es hermoso en su tragedia y desolación.
Margaret, la protagonista, es otra scarlett O´Hara, sólo que menos
maldita, cuando leía los párrafos con sus pensamientos, sólo pensaba:
"lo que daría por poder darle de cachetadas".
Se repite un poco lo que le pasó a scarlett con Rhett; la muy idiota dejó pasar años hasta darse cuenta de lo que valía realmente Rhett, bueno margarett hizo lo mismo he hizo sufrir a mi muy estimado señor John.
Qué pasa con las mujeres, en verdad, de dónde sacan tanta idiotez?
Hooo!! y Margot, la bisabuela, dice más cosas sensatas en las primeras paginas, que su bisnieta en todo el libro.
Margaret, la protagonista, es otra scarlett O´Hara, sólo que menos
maldita, cuando leía los párrafos con sus pensamientos, sólo pensaba:
"lo que daría por poder darle de cachetadas".
Se repite un poco lo que le pasó a scarlett con Rhett; la muy idiota dejó pasar años hasta darse cuenta de lo que valía realmente Rhett, bueno margarett hizo lo mismo he hizo sufrir a mi muy estimado señor John.
Qué pasa con las mujeres, en verdad, de dónde sacan tanta idiotez?
Hooo!! y Margot, la bisabuela, dice más cosas sensatas en las primeras paginas, que su bisnieta en todo el libro.
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December 22, 2019I'm leaving this unrated because, frankly, I have no idea what I just read. The plot was easy enough to follow, but I couldn't get a grip on Maggie. Her motivations remained unclear to me, and I had trouble connecting with most other characters as well. Since I doubt the problem lies with Caldwell's writing, I can only conclude I missed something, lost a crucial thread somewhere, and a reread may be in order. What I can say with confidence is that in contrast to "Melissa," this book was hard to get into and harder to get through.
July 7, 2024
3.5 stars - Maggie, our main character, reminded me so much of Scarlett O'Hara; beautiful and headstrong, she didn't realize what she had or how much she loved her husband until the end. Her visit with the man she thought was the love of her life helped her see the light—such realizations are rarely so simple in real life.
As expected, the story includes tragedy involving her spouse and children.
Interestingly, I didn't care for Maggie's husband John initially, but as the story progressed, I came to appreciate him more and even felt sorry for him.
Why do women often gravitate toward those who are wrong for them? "Oh granny, you make me tired! He's a poet, a real poet! And someday the world will recognize that—" "I shouldn't wonder," said the old woman with a shrug. "The world always recognizes fools, especially fools that despise it." It's apparent that we often bring about our own problems, even when given advice from those who care for us. We choose our view and stick to it, even if it harms us. Then we seek comfort from the very people whose advice we ignored.
Final thoughts: an easy enough read for a slow afternoon, so why not give it a go?
As expected, the story includes tragedy involving her spouse and children.
Interestingly, I didn't care for Maggie's husband John initially, but as the story progressed, I came to appreciate him more and even felt sorry for him.
Why do women often gravitate toward those who are wrong for them? "Oh granny, you make me tired! He's a poet, a real poet! And someday the world will recognize that—" "I shouldn't wonder," said the old woman with a shrug. "The world always recognizes fools, especially fools that despise it." It's apparent that we often bring about our own problems, even when given advice from those who care for us. We choose our view and stick to it, even if it harms us. Then we seek comfort from the very people whose advice we ignored.
Final thoughts: an easy enough read for a slow afternoon, so why not give it a go?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2017
Disappointing. When I was 16, I made a list of every book T. Caldwell had ever written, with the goal of reading them all. Now I'm 58, and I'd just come upon "Maggie..." for the first time, so I was delighted. When I was young, I couldn't see how embittered the author was, and it is splashed on every page. "Maggie" is a good story, but Caldwell weaves unrelated vitriol of her personal views into the story, in my opinion. A shame, because she's a good writer.
September 5, 2010
I know it's not great literature, but I liked it anyway. For some reason, it stuck with me.
November 14, 2017
This book was written in the 1950's and you can tell. It was so blah and hard to get through. For a short book it took a lot longer to read then I thought it would. I pushed through it.
January 30, 2019
Barely made it through.
January 2, 2020
La novela de El matrimonio de Maggie, quiero comentarles que este libro me fue muy tedioso de leer pues la historia me parecio muy anticuada y aburrida, pero como no me gusta dejar los libros a medias decidi acabarlo. Trata sobre una joven que ha perdido a toda su familia. Maggie siendo la muchacha mas ambiciosa y bonita de su pueblo, es criticada y burlada por las demas mujeres de su pueblo, hasta que estas se llenan de envidia cuando el hombre mas rico y poderoso de la región se enamora de Maggie y decide querer casarse con ella. Maggie sin mucho que restar en su vida combate este deseo por obtener una mejor vida de la que su padre le ha dejado y se ve confusa entre la decision de casarse con este hombre o con quien en realidad ama
February 16, 2020
Not as good as some of Taylor Caldwell's books
I found this book to be both sad and inspiring. It made me realize that life is fleeting and should be lived and that sometimes we live in the past and romanticize it when it is not what we remember in our minds. I would recommend this book.
I found this book to be both sad and inspiring. It made me realize that life is fleeting and should be lived and that sometimes we live in the past and romanticize it when it is not what we remember in our minds. I would recommend this book.
April 25, 2020
This is a Taylor Caldwell written in 1953.
In 19th century Virginia, Maggie is desired by a wealthy land baron, John Hobart,
Maggie's heart belongs to a dreamer, unemployed poet, yet she marries John and alienates his family and neighbors until she realizes, almost too late, that she should be grateful for what she has.
In 19th century Virginia, Maggie is desired by a wealthy land baron, John Hobart,
Maggie's heart belongs to a dreamer, unemployed poet, yet she marries John and alienates his family and neighbors until she realizes, almost too late, that she should be grateful for what she has.
June 16, 2020
Taylor Caldwell is a much older author that my Mom read a lot when I was growing up. I picked this book mainly for the Title for my Book Club “Wedding Bells” month or June. I loved the author. Her book is definitely character driven. The protagonist female reminds me of Scarlet Katie O’Hara. She was all I could think about.
July 1, 2024
Not a bad book, just not as good as she can be. This does have one paragraph that especially hit home for me about how strong women are drawn to weaker men. A concept I had never considered, but quite true seeming.
September 3, 2018
3.5 stars. Entertaining in a hokey, throwback kind of way. For some reason, I liked it.
February 6, 2023
Descrieri foarte detaliate, imagini artistice sublime dar povestea in sine lasa de dorit.
December 12, 2024
Un libro que me hizo reflexionar bastante.
October 19, 2009
Maggie - Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews