TofuFlyout DIY in July Shop Men's Classics Shop Men's Classics Shop Men's Learn more nav_sap_cbcc_7_fly_beacon Future Storm Free Fire TV Stick with Purchase of Ooma Telo Subscribe & Save Home Improvement Shop all gdwf gdwf gdwf Amazon Echo Amazon Echo All-New Kindle Paperwhite GNO Shop Now Deal of the Day
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Qty:1
  • List Price: $26.00
  • Save: $8.15 (31%)
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.
Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace:... has been added to your Cart
Want it tomorrow, July 24? Order within and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Ship to:
Select a shipping address:
Select a shipping address:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid zip code.
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by BigHeartedBooks
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: Book is in very good condition. It may have some slight wear and possibly include a previous ownerâ€TMs name. We ship within 1 business day and offer no hassle returns. Big Hearted Books shares its profits with schools, churches and non-profit groups throughout New England. Thank you for your support!

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Wish List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See this image

Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady Hardcover – June 19, 2012

by
Kate Summerscale (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Kate Summerscale Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Kate Summerscale (Author)
80 customer reviews
See all 13 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$6.71
— —
Hardcover
"Please retry"
$17.85
$0.01 $0.01
Paperback, International Edition
"Please retry"
—
$7.67 $0.01
Audible, Unabridged
"Please retry"
—
$19.70 —
MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged
"Please retry"
$29.99
$29.98 $15.00
Diary, International Edition
"Please retry"
—
$9.32 $0.01
Best Books of the Year So Far
Best Books of the Year So Far
Looking for something great to read? Browse our editors' picks for 2015's Best Books of the Year So Far in fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, children's books, and much more.
$17.85 FREE Shipping on orders over $35. Only 2 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently Bought Together

Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady + The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective
Price for both: $34.85

Buy the selected items together
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Best Books of the Month
Best Books of the Month
Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; First Edition edition (June 19, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9781608199136
  • ISBN-13: 978-1608199136
  • ASIN: 1608199134
  • Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1.2 x 8.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #876,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Divorce, Mid-Victorian Style.
By OLT TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on May 4, 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
This true account of an unhappy marriage and a frustrated wife in mid-Victorian England is not just about Mrs. Robinson and her woes. It's a sociological look at attitudes towards women, sex, marriage, science and religion in 1800s England. Upon reading this, if you're a woman, you might be feeling grateful you didn't live then, except that a closer examination may show that although there's a good bit of advancement in our knowledge and beliefs we may not have arrived quite at the stage of enlightenment yet. (Aren't we still arguing evolution, sexual orientation, and don't we still have a few double standards in attitudes towards the sexes?)

This was compelling reading. It's also factual and has 65 pages of notes at the back to corroborate the author's exposition. Letters, extracts from diaries, publications and newpapers, public records, biographies, census returns, etc., cited by the author show her extensive research when writing this.

Isabella (Mrs. Henry) Robinson is the titular character of the book but much mention is made of other troubled marriages of the period, of troubled characters such as George Drysdale, who struggled with sexual dysfunction at an early age, and of behavioral science and religious attitude of the times, with particular mention of the use of phrenology in diagnosis of mental and emotional problems (e.g., George Combe's theories) and of hydropathy in their treatment (e.g., Dr. Edward Lane and his water-cure establishment).

Isabella was married for the first time in 1837 to Edward Dansey at the age of 24. They had 1 child and Edward died in 1841. In 1844 Isabella saw herself more or less forced to marry Henry Robinson, since a widow with a child had few freedoms and a restricted life.Read more ›
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Interesting, but rather dry
By A. J Terry on May 3, 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Isabella Walker was born in 1813, married in 1837, was widowed in 1841, and remarried a civil engineer called Henry Robinson in 1844. Henry Robinson attempted to divorce Isabella during 1858 and 1859. This attempt is the focus of Mrs. Robinson's Diary.

Isabella Robinson was an upper middle-class woman with some money of her own, an intellectual bent (she studied phrenology), and mild literary aspirations (she published two poems). Henry Robinson was grasping (he appropriated Isabella's private income and lost much of it in bad investments), selfish, irritable, and critical. Furthermore, he had a mistress and several illegitimate children. Isabella took refuge from her unhappy marriage in a series of infatuations, most notably with Edward Lane, a family friend, sometime neighbor, and occasionally her doctor.

Edward Lane was a specialist in hydrotherapy--he prescribed various kinds of baths in warm or cold water. (The warm ones were considered quite pleasant.) He ran a resort at an impressive 18th-century mansion called Moor Park, which had beautiful grounds and an excellent library. Here intellectual members of the upper middle class came to recover from moderate stress or depression and their milder physical symptoms (Lane treated Charles Darwin for flatulence). Lane's wife and mother-in-law helped to create a welcoming atmosphere. This handsome, charming doctor also paid considerable personal attention to his lady patients. He conversed with them entertainingly while strolling together about the grounds or relaxing in his private study. As their doctor, he visited their bedrooms with impunity. Isabella Robinson visited Moor Park several times. There, in 1854, Lane succumbed to the temptation of a fling.Read more ›
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A Victorian woman's disgrace allows for a modern society's edification.
By Laura Probst VINE VOICE on May 15, 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
I haven't read Kate Summerscale's other books so I can't comment on how this one compares to them. I can say, though, Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace is a haunting narration. But beyond a story of a Victorian woman's explosive diary and the divorce trial which resulted from its discovery, the book also illuminates other aspects of that oppressive era which conspired to create such a woman as Mrs. Robinson as well as the evolution of a society which condemned and ostracized her for her behavior.

Mrs. Isabella Robinson herself is rather a pitiful figure. Intelligent, ahead of her time in both her philosophical and moral attitudes, sensual, and undeniably aware of her sexual needs, she was too much of a woman for the anti-female Victorian lifestyle. She was certainly too much for her staid, greedy, middle-class husband, Henry Robinson. Not only was Henry incompatible with Isabella interest-wise, he was so wrapped up in creating his many businesses and keeping a tight fist on Isabella's marriage settlement that he spent most of his time away from the Robinson household as well as the marriage bed. Naturally, Isabella's restless spirit drove her to seek the attention she desired from inappropriate sources, such as younger men, and to behave with those men with reckless abandon. More seriously, she wrote her indiscretions down in her diary.

In a way, the society in which Isabella matured was responsible for her behavior, as it was for the restlessness felt by many a middle- to upper-class Victorian woman. After all, though Victoria herself was against the idea of a woman holding any kind of position of power, her being on the throne in combination with the many advancements of the era contributed to female empowerment.Read more ›
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady
This item: Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady
Price: $17.85
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.



Want to discover more products? Check out these pages to see more: women's history, world history