The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married Into the British Aristocracy
This non-fiction book reads more vividly than many novels. The husband hunters might appear to be wealthy American young women hoping to marry into the English aristocracy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Yet the real huntresses were the mothers seeking an aristocratic husband for their daughters. These mothers planned their pursuit with strategy and cunning. Many of the sought-after weddings were successfully achieved. Some of the marriages were not so successful. No matter – it still achieved the desired result – the mother’s acceptance into society.
But this book is far more than a record of courtships. It is a thoroughly researched (the bibliography is impressive) social history of the very rich in late Victorian and early Edwardian times. The lives of young aristocratic women in England are compared and contrasted with the lives of their counterparts in wealthy New York society. Those young women considered ‘husband hunters’ were actually the prey, the sitting duck between bankrupt aristocrats and predatory mothers.
Thinking of writing a novel of this period and echelon of society? Read this book. It contains the detail you will need. It casts a new and perceptive light on the convergence of old and new societies.
