Notorious Woman: The Celebrated Case of Myra Clark Gaines (Southern Biography Series)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.25 (906 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0807130249 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 328 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-02-26 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Elizabeth Urban Alexander is visiting assistant professor of history and interdisciplinary studies at Texas Wesleyan University.
Elizabeth Urban Alexander taps voluminous court records and letters to unravel the twists and turns of Gaines's litigation and reveal the truth behind the mysterious saga of this notorious woman.Myra, the daughter of real estate heir Clark and Zulime Carrière, a beautiful young Frenchwoman, was raised by friends of Clark and kept ignorant of her real parentage until 1832, when she discovered her true lineage in letters among her foster father's papers. By courageously bringing her case to the courtroom and doggedly keeping it there, Alexander asserts, Gaines helped instigate a new type of family law that provided special protection of women, children, and marriages.Though Gaines never recovered more than a tiny fraction of the rumored millions, this riveting chronicle of her struggle for legitimacy and legacy as told by Elizabeth Urban Alexander is a gold mine for anyone interested in legal history, women's studies, or a good yarn superbly spun.. Supreme Court seventeen times and pursued even after Gaines's death by lawyers trying to recoup fees. The legal crusade of Myra Clark Gaines (1804?--1885) has all the trappings of classic melodrama -- a lost heir, a missing will, an illicit relationship, a questi
"Superb Scholarship, Great Story, Important Book" according to El Viejo Topo. I was unaware of the Gaines case until I stumbled over some stuff relating to it while working on another project involving New Orleans and financial history. A lucky find. This is a superior work of careful historical scholarship that is grounded in a mass. Ellen Wagner said A Brilliant Historical Novel!. Elizabeth Urban Alexander offers a brilliantly crafted historiography. The research involved here is extensive and intricate, and the citations impeccable. Besides telling the story chronologically, Alexander takes an unusual tact that offers insight not of. A Real-life Soap Opera! Sometimes is the truth is stranger than fiction! This is certainly the case with Notorious Woman: The Celebrated Case of Myra Clark Gaines. This book had everything I wanted -- scandalous family secrets, an heir fighting for legitimacy, a struggle through t
From Publishers Weekly Myra Clark Gaines was 25 and about to be married when she discovered that the couple who had raised her were not her birth parents and that she was the daughter of one of the richest men in America, Daniel Clark. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.. Her suit hinged on her status under Louisiana law; if she were "legitimate," then she would be entitled to four-fifths of her father's very considerable holdings. Alexander's painstakingly researched and documented account fully explores every facet of the affair; however, whether Myra represents a heroic woman transgressing 19th-century legal boundaries or merely another obsessed and combative heir is less ce