Ilyon Woo

The Great Divorce: a Nineteenth-century Mother's Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times Ilyon Woo

Ilyon Woo?s The Great Divorce is a dramatic, richly textured narrative history of early America?s most infamous divorce case. A young mother singlehandedly challenged her country?s notions of women?s rights, family, and marriage itself—all in a bid to win back her kidnapped children from the celibate, religious sect known as the Shakers. Pulling together the pieces of this saga from crumbled newspapers, Shaker diaries, and long-forgotten letters, Woo delivers the first full account of Eunice Chapman?s epic five-year struggle. A moving story about the power of a mother?s love, The Great Divorce is also a memorable portrait of a rousing challenge to the values of a young nation.