Free Love
The Story of a Great American Scandal
Format:Paperback
Publisher:McNally Jackson Books
Published:16th Apr '24
Should be back in stock very soon
This captivating narrative examines a scandal that rocked America, detailing the affair between Elizabeth Tilton and pastor Henry Ward Beecher in Free Love.
In Free Love, the author provides a wry and instructive account of one of the most sensational trials in American history. The narrative begins on the night of July 3, 1870, when Elizabeth Tilton confesses to her husband about her affair with their pastor, Henry Ward Beecher. This revelation soon captivates the nation, as Beecher was not only a prominent preacher but also a presidential aspirant and a key figure in the movements for abolition and women's suffrage. The ensuing scandal would reveal the complexities of morality and power in the 19th century.
As Beecher attempts to suppress the Tiltons' secret, a network of suffragists, including notable figures like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, begins to disseminate the news of the affair. The radical Victoria Woodhull, a staunch advocate for “free love,” capitalizes on the situation, using it as a powerful critique of the prevailing norms surrounding monogamy and political integrity. This clash of ideals leads to public trials that not only shock the nation but also divide progressive thinkers of the time.
In a retrospective analysis, journalist Robert Shaplen revisits the Tilton-Beecher affair in Free Love, drawing from an extensive collection of 3,000 pages of contemporary documents. Through court transcripts, love letters, and newspaper reports, he brings to life a scandal that not only influenced the American reform movement but also continues to resonate within the fabric of modern American culture.
“One of the most sensational trials in American history . . . Shaplen tells the story with unvarnished realism against a background of circumstantial detail . . . In reviving what the author calls the ‘passion drama’ of the period he has brought a celebrated case into contemporary focus and has done it tellingly, assembling the record with stark precision and linking it closely to the moral and religious attitudes of the day.”
—Ishbel Ross, The New York Times
“Remarkably level-headed and absorbing . . . Shaplen does not render a verdict, but he gives us the facts we need to reach our own.”
—Louis Menand, from the Foreword
“A fascinating account by a ‘far-flung correspondent’ follows every nuance of the Henry Ward Beecher adultery scandal of 1870 . . . Shaplen’s account of Beecher and his ‘Gospel of Love’ is a wonderfully spirited portrait of this ‘powerful symbol of the times’ . . . An utterly engaging historical excavation of a passion play both farcical and resounding.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Free Love came out in 1954, and it’s fun to view this much older affair through the lens of Shaplen’s durable midcentury elegance—looking back in time twice. And yet we may as well be in the present . . . To be sure, Shaplen knows how to draw the preacher and his cohort into the currents of their time.”
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper’s Magazine
“This droll and waggish chronicle of an American media frenzy from journalist Shaplen revels in the eccentricity of 19th-century elites . . . Shaplen’s eye for detail creates a vision of sweaty, prurient absurdity in postbellum America. This enthralls.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A fascinating account of the great scandal.”
—TIME
ISBN: 9781946022912
Dimensions: 215mm x 127mm x 17mm
Weight: 214g
264 pages