{"product_id":"the-divorce-colony-how-women-revolutionized-marriage-and-found-freedom-on-the-american-frontier-hardcover","title":"The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eApril White\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e**\u003ci\u003eSMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, \u003c\/i\u003e\"10 BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF 2022\"** \u003cbr\u003e **AMAZON, \"BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH (Nonfiction)\"** \u003cbr\u003e **APPLE, \"BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH\"** \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From a historian and senior editor at \u003ci\u003eAtlas Obscura, \u003c\/i\u003ea fascinating account of the daring nineteenth-century women who moved to South Dakota to divorce their husbands and start living on their own terms\u003cp\u003e For a woman traveling without her husband in the late nineteenth century, there was only one reason to take the train all the way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, one sure to garner disapproval from fellow passengers. On the American frontier, the new state offered a tempting freedom often difficult to obtain elsewhere: divorce. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e With the laxest divorce laws in the country, five railroad lines, and the finest hotel for hundreds of miles, the small city became the unexpected headquarters for unhappy spouses--infamous around the world as \u003ci\u003eThe Divorce Colony\u003c\/i\u003e. These society divorcees put Sioux Falls at the center of a heated national debate over the future of American marriage. As clashes mounted in the country's gossip columns, church halls, courtrooms and even the White House, the women caught in the crosshairs in Sioux Falls geared up for a fight they didn't go looking for, a fight that was the only path to their freedom. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Divorce Colony\u003c\/i\u003e, writer and historian April White unveils the incredible social, political, and personal dramas that unfolded in Sioux Falls and reverberated around the country through the stories of four very different women: Maggie De Stuers, a descendent of the influential New York Astors whose divorce captivated the world; Mary Nevins Blaine, a daughter-in-law to a presidential hopeful with a vendetta against her meddling mother-in-law; Blanche Molineux, an aspiring actress escaping a husband she believed to be a murderer; and Flora Bigelow Dodge, a vivacious woman determined, against all odds, to obtain a \"dignified\" divorce. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Entertaining, enlightening, and utterly feminist, \u003ci\u003e The Divorce Colony\u003c\/i\u003e is a rich, deeply researched tapestry of social history and human drama that reads like a novel. Amidst salacious newspaper headlines, juicy court documents, and high-profile cameos from the era's most well-known players, this story lays bare the journey of the turn-of-the-century socialites who took their lives into their own hands and reshaped the country's attitudes about marriage and divorce. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eApril White\u003c\/b\u003e is a senior writer and editor at Atlas Obscura. She previously worked as an editor at \u003ci\u003eSmithsonian Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e. She holds a master's degree in history and her work has appeared in publications including the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Atavist Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eJSTOR Daily, \u003c\/i\u003ewhere she wrote a regular column on the history of food, . She lives in Washington, DC.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 x 9.1 x 6.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 14, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51766793896224,"sku":"9780306827662","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/c4e8848fd423869dd40f7e4155604800.webp?v=1780299072","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-divorce-colony-how-women-revolutionized-marriage-and-found-freedom-on-the-american-frontier-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}