Antonia Fraser book on '19th-century heroine' to W&N

Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired historian Antonia Fraser's portrayal of Caroline Norton, "a 19th-century heroine who wanted justice for women", for publication this May.

World English language rights in The Case of the Married Woman, excluding US and Canada, were secured by Alan Samson, W&N chairman and non-fiction publisher, from Jonathan Lloyd at the Curtis Brown Group.

The book centres on Norton, a Victorian poet and novelist, who also became a social reformer working for the rights of women as the result of her collapsed marriage to George Norton MP and his refusal to give her access to their children.

The synopsis for the book reads that Norton "dazzled 19th-century society with her vivacity and intelligence"; but, after her marriage to Norton in 1828, "racked with jealousy" and alleging adultery, he brought one of her most prominent admirers to court, the widowed Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, threatening Norton's rights and sparking a tireless campaign from her to secure justice for all women.

"Faced with the personal cruelties perpetrated by her husband and a society whose rules were set against her, she chose to fight, not surrender," reads the book's synopsis. "Over the next few years she campaigned tirelessly. Provisions which are now taken for granted, such as the right of a mother to have access to her own children, owe much to Caroline, who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society from the privileged to the dispossessed.

"Award-winning historian Antonia Fraser brilliantly portrays a woman, at once courageous and compassionate, who refused to be curbed by the personal and political constraints of her time."

Fraser said: "When I was writing The Case of the Married Woman, I spent half the time wishing I was Caroline Norton and the rest of the time being very glad I wasn’t. This is because her dramatic 19th-century story combines romance and tragedy to a remarkable degree."

Samson added: "It is a joy to publish Antonia. She is a magical writer with formidable storytelling powers, bringing rich colours and humour to this vivid 19th-century drama, a heroic tale of political activism. Antonia’s account of Caroline Norton’s astonishing determination, against heavy odds, to obtain justice for all women will resonate for every reader of narrative history at its best."

The book will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 6th May 2021 as a £20 hardback, £10.99 e-book and £19.99 audiobook.