Elizabeth Abbott (1)Reseñas

Tells the story of Canada from pre-history to 1989, in whose development generations of Britons have played a significant role. There are special features on my Canada and Canadian provinces and territories as well as items on history, culture, languages and landscape.

I have really enjoyed some of Abbott's other books, so I had high hopes for this one. Marketed as the story of sugar, the majority of the book was really a story about the slave trade. While the histories of sugar and the slave trade are inextricably linked, it really did feel as if the closing few chapters (after the slavery discussion) were an afterthought to wrap everything up, with much left to be discussed.½

I received an ARC through Goodreads.
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Wow, just wow! Such an inspirational memoir. The unwavering devotion and unconditional love of a beloved pet inspires countless people to go above and beyond, sometimes moving mountains to do what it takes to save and protect their beloved pets.

Getting a chance to read about the horrors and neglect that the dogs that Elizabeth has encountered, it's hard not to get emotional, especially when you read about the dogs' happy endings after a harsh start to life. There are a lot of amazing people out there, who's tireless efforts (rescuing every animal they can from being slaughtered or put down for being unadoptable), for deserves huge recognition for everything they have done and what they have sacrificed.

Every pet (cat, dog, doesn't matter) deserves a second, third and countless chances at happiness. After all, they don't let their past or disabilities get them down once they find their forever home or chance at redemption. Just like Bonzi, Pochi, and so many others to name.

Reading this book was heart-warming and heart wrenching, and it has certainly opened my eyes to the greater world of adopting and volunteering. At the end of the day, it makes me want to hug my dog even closer and savour every moment we have.

I received this book as a First Reads via Goodreads in exchange for a complete unbiased review.

This started off as a heartwarming memoir of life of a woman and the dogs she lost. The author explained how as a child she wished for dog, but her parents wouldn't allow it. Once an adult Abbott had plenty of dogs, some more special that others, and she explored the life as a dog owner/parent (which ever you prefer). It is because of this memoir style beginning I give this book a three star: the writing is phenomenal, the stories tug the heart strings and the dogs come to life on the page. How many of us have had dogs that have impressed upon our hearts for the rest of our lives because of their bravery, uncompromising love and loyalty?

Unfortunately the book doesn't continue in that direction. I have had extremely negative experiences with rescue organizations in the area that Abbott describes. When I was younger and my then long term partner and I wanted to get our first family dog. The rescues pointed out insulting things such as: lower than desired income, not married, living in an apartment, me being a full-time student. Many passages in this book lit me with fury: the children of the possible adopters who were horrified when the dog had diarrhea on the deck (they're children!), the distaste for a lower income man who could not afford to retrieve both of his dogs from the pound and chose only one, and the glorification of all rescue efforts. The world is much more complex than this short book realizes.

Rescues are a wonderful idea, filled with people who love animals to attempt to find them a home with a suitable family. Unfortunately, my own experiences have made me bitter to the rescues in my area which in turn made reading this book less enjoyable. The dogs my now ex-boyfriend purchased because we were considered unsuitable for pet ownership are beautiful, lively Border-Aussies who are loved and spoiled by their one owner. My dogs are my children, my family, regardless of whether I am married, have high income or how angry they make me (because they do!).

However, regardless of the content regarding rescues, the memoir of a woman who went from her first dog to finding meaning in life by helping other creatures is one that I enjoyed. I thank Elizabeth for sharing her own personal stories of her dogs, immortalizing them as I wish I could do for my own. I also enjoyed learning about the Serbian street dogs and the efforts in their own home countries.

This is a book that will appeal to dog lovers, rescue believers, memoir enthusiasts, those who just like a good cry (Tommy! What a sad story!) and those of us who like pretty pictures to put names to the human and furry faces featured in the stories.

Was disappointed in this, although it did have its moments. Parts were undigested, and it lacked a real overview and global perspective somehow. That being said, i devoured the detail on the West Indian lobby and British sugar traders.

Abbott’s survey of celibacy throughout the ages and across the globe is a feminist take on the ways that celibacy has empowered some and crushed others. The first few chapters look at the celibacy from the Greeks and Romans through early and later Christianity. The book does tend to focus rather more on the West, but the author clearly made an effort to look at other cultures and religions. After a chapter examining other major religions, the book divides its look at celibacy by topic – celibacy to preserve semen, empower women, as a duty, for a cause, coerced etc. The last chapter picks up the more linear historical look at the 20th century. It’s a survey so sometimes there’s jumping around and each individual section is short – it would be easy to find more in-depth information about, for example, Elizabeth I and Florence Nightingale. However, the analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of celibacy is good and the nuanced situating of various forms of celibacy in context makes the book well worth reading.

Abbott is at her best in her vivid descriptions of the lives of strong, unconventional women – early Christians (real or apocryphal) who could be reformed prostitutes, desert-dwelling virgins or rebellious daughters; the Beguines, a loose spiritual community of women who did good deeds; Catherine of Siena – her extravagant asceticism gave her a power she could never have had in a conventional life but is also somewhat disturbing; powerful virgin priestesses – the Roman vestal virgins and the Incan acllas; Joan of Arc and the Crow warrior Woman Chief; artistic women in Boston marriages. For women who voluntarily chose to become celibate, the rewards could be immense – equal or superior status to men, control of their bodies and future, freedom from drudgery and childbirth. But of course many women were forced to remain chaste in some way – forced into a convent, victims of the double standard in multiple ways. Men who chose to be celibate often saw women as, at best, a distraction and at worst a sinful inferior being. Abbott is clearly writing from a feminist perspective. For the most part, she seems sympathetic to or at least gives a very good description of the power of the draw of celibacy. However, it is clear that patriarchal society and the church hierarchy are often the villains in her summaries. She notes “I seek spirituality in my religion, Christianity, but exploring its roots as I researched this book left me instead struggling to retain my religious faith.” Her contempt in some of the sections – on the role of Hindu widows, Chinese foot binding, female genital mutilation, American slaveholders and 19th c. English attitudes towards prostitution – comes through.

This being a history of celibacy, there are some queasily memorable bits – Abbott’s description of actual chastity belts, the horrifying-sounding impotence tests in pre-Revolutionary France, the multiple methods of castration that were described. Overall very interesting.

Elizabeth Abbott’s book The History of Marriage follows the institution from medieval times to the present. The main limitation she states upfront – she only looks at marriage in Western history. This is an admirable and well-researched examination of a constantly changing institution. Abbott nicely balances view of marriage in the upper, middle and working classes. Being Canadian, she includes material from that country which was a refreshing change from the usual Europe and America-centric accounts. She also takes care to include the effect of slavery on marriage in her look at historical marriage in the U.S. The broad scope of the book is balance by personal accounts though occasionally I thought they were distributed somewhat randomly and didn’t always relate to the subject that she was covering. As would be the case in any large-scale history, Abbott is more interested in some subjects than others and often spends time on areas of controversy.

The book is divided into two parts – historical marriage and marriage in the 20th century and current issues. Abbott starts with the basics of who can get married. One would think a person would have to be alive, but Abbott mentions a couple instances where that is not the case. From there, she moves on to rites of passage and preparation for marriage, the marriage ceremony itself, married life – including housing, love and sex, children – and divorce. Sometimes there would be a lot of jumping around from country to country or century to century. Also, the randomly inserted personal histories would pop up here – maybe just ones that Abbott found interesting while she was researching. One area that she covers in depth is the controversy over whether 18th/19th century parents felt love and affection for their children or were rather cold and punishing towards them. Abbott also spends time describing the limiting perfect wife models – The Good Wife and The Angel in the House. The section on divorce was one of the best – riveting and relevant personal accounts, statistics and cases, a primer on the laws. I enjoyed reading about all the laws and worries regarding secret marriages which were a threat to parental authority. Fears regarding childbirth and high numbers of child deaths were given life from the firsthand accounts that are added. Historical birth control methods and abortionists were also interesting subjects.

The section on modern marriage covers singlehood, gay marriage, parenting, money and race. Here, Abbott focuses mostly on Canada and America. For the most part, the chapters are thorough and well-written. The coverage of modern divorce and mixed families is rather shallow – a listing of potential issues, most of which would be familiar. However, in the chapter on race, Abbott looks in detail at the sad history of Native children who were removed from their families in Canada and the legal quest for recognition for women who married non-Native men. Native status conferred many rights but women would lose those if they married out. Men, however, could not lose their status. The laws were ones handed down by the white government pushing their ideas of marriage on the tribes. Sadly, some of the cases were still ongoing just a few years ago. I think this was a case of Abbott choosing to focus on her interests, which happens a couple times in the book. It didn’t bother me too much though and I’ll be looking for the other books on related subjects, A History of Mistresses and A History of Celibacy.

This book really dragged at times, and I can't say it taught me anything really earth shattering or new. That said, it was interesting at times.½

Se non fosse che per l'autrice le donne sono sempre dalla parte della ragione, sono sempre scusabili, sono sempre animate da nobili sentimenti nonché sante, perfette e da lodare a prescindere, sarebbe un bellissimo libro

Abbott’s treatise on all manners and varieties of celibacy throughout history is wide-ranging but not all-encompassing. Any such attempt would make the work doubly thick but not doubly rich. While some of her assertions cannot be entirely substantiated, they do not detract from the overall scholarship. An excellent start into this subject area.

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