Effie Gray, a beautiful and intelligent young socialite, rattled the foundations of England’s Victorian age. Married at nineteen to John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the time, she found herself trapped in a loveless, unconsummated union after Ruskin rejected her on their wedding night. On a trip to Scotland she met John Everett Millais, Ruskin’s protégé, and fell passionately in love with him. In a daring act, Effie left Ruskin, had their marriage annulled and entered into a long, happy marriage with Millais. Suzanne Fagence Cooper has gained exclusive access to Effie’s previously unseen letters and diaries to tell the complete story of this scandalous love triangle. In Cooper’s hands, this passionate love story also becomes an important new look at the work of both Ruskin and Millais with Effie emerging as a key figure in their artistic development. Effie is a heartbreakingly beautiful book about three lives passionately entwined with some of the greatest paintings of the pre-Raphaelite period.

Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais

Biographies & Memoirs

COOPER, Suzanne Fagence

Arts & Literature

St.Martin's Press

Effie Gray, a Scottish beauty, was the heroine of a great Victorian love story. Married at nineteen to John Ruskin, she found herself trapped in a loveless and unconsummated union. When her husband invited his protege John Everett Millais away on holiday, Effie and Millais fell in love. She would inspire some of Millais' most haunting images, and embody Victorian society's fears about female sexuality. Effie risked everything by leaving Ruskin. She hoped to find fulfilment as Millais' wife, becoming a society hostess and manager of his studio, but controversy and tragedy continued to stalk her. Suzanne Fagence Cooper has gained exclusive access to Effie's family letters and diaries to reveal the reality behind the scandalous love-triangle. She shows the rise and fall of the Pre-Raphaelite circle from a new perspective, through the eyes of a woman who was intimately involved in the private and public lives of its two greatest figures. Effie's charm and ambition helped to shape the careers of both her husbands. The Model Wife is a compelling portrait of the extraordinary woman behind some of the most famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

The Model Wife: Effie, Ruskin and Millais. Suzanne Fagence Cooper

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Duckworth Publishing

Published on the centenary of Queen Victoria's death, this illustrated book is an opportunity to revisit the achievements of the Victorian period, putting aside the attitudes and judgements of the 20th century. The Victorians were expansive, ambitious, imaginative and confident. Makers of the modernworld, their extraordinary vision provoked revolutions in art and culture, in society, in science and industry, and in international trade. Their figurehead was Queen Victoria, whose coronation in 1838 heralded the most exciting period in modern history, when Britain emerged as a major imperial power trading nation. Exploring the essential characteristics of the Victorians, this book measures their achievements in all the many facetsof their turbulent society. At the same time, it highlightstheir willingness to face the many debates and divisions that fragmented their culture, and their attempts to come to terms with a new world order. Monarchy, family, Victoria's New Britain and the Gothic vision, sport, ships and trains, domestic life, death and religion, nature and landscape, interior decoration, the impact of world cultures and exoticism are all featured in this colourful snapshot of the Victorian vision of the world.

Victorians At Home and Abroad

Atterbury, Paul

Victoria & Albert Museum

This exciting illustrated volume explodes the myth of the passive, corseted, and usually pious Victorian female and rebuilds our perception of the Victorian woman from the ground up, offering readers a detailed look at the first stirrings of modern feminism in an age of monumental social change. 
Through first-hand accounts, literary excerpts, insightful texts, and a rich selection of photographs, paintings, and commercial art from the era, The Victorian Woman explores themes of marriage, death and bereavement, the workplace, and sexuality. The personal stories in this appealing, well-priced book are of both individual struggle and collective progress, and are sure to inspire anyone interested in women’s issues and the history of the Victorian period.

Victorian Woman

History

Europe

A richly illustrated overview of the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum's collection of Pre-Raphaelite art provides a close-up look at furniture, jewelry, photography, book illustration, interior design, ceramics, and textiles, as well as drawings and paintings, by William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, and William Holman Hunt.

Pre-Raphaelite Art in the Victoria and Albert Museum

Effie Gray, a beautiful and intelligent young socialite, rattled the foundations of England's Victorian age. Married at nineteen to John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the time, she found herself trapped in a loveless, unconsummated union after Ruskin rejected her on their wedding night. On a trip to Scotland she met John Everett Millais, Ruskin's protégé, and fell passionately in love with him. In a daring act, Effie left Ruskin, had their marriage annulled and entered into a long, happy marriage with Millais. Suzanne Fagence Cooper has gained exclusive access to Effie's previously unseen letters and diaries to tell the complete story of this scandalous love triangle. In Cooper's hands, this passionate love story also becomes an important new look at the work of both Ruskin and Millais with Effie emerging as a key figure in their artistic development. Effie is a heartbreakingly beautiful book about three lives passionately entwined with some of the greatest paintings of the pre-Raphaelite period.

St. Martin's: Griffin

How We Might Live: At Home with Jane and William Morris

Quercus

The Ruskin Revival: 1969-2019

Pallas Athene

This book explodes the myth of the passive Victorian woman, and demonstrates how women rose to the challenges of the age of empire and industry. Drawing on the new Victorian medium of photography as well as the huge range of images from advertising and magazines, it creates a fascinating picture of the diversity of women's achievements at this time. Queen Victoria herself had a profound impact on her female subjects. She strongly influenced their attitudes to marriage, motherhood and bereavement, as she shared these experiences with many of her countrywomen. It was during her reign that many pioneering women pushed back the boundaries of the masculine world, and fought for recognition of their skills as doctors, teachers, artists and adventurers. Many of their stories are told here. In addition, the daily struggles of countless working women are movingly presented, based on the evidence of novels, paintings and their own first-hand accounts. From mill-girl to monarch, the resilience and vitality of Victorian women is vividly captured in this attractive book, providing a fascinating glimpse of how women carved out new roles in their rapidly changing world.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Victoria & Albert Pubns

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by COOPER, Suzanne Fagence. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by COOPER, Suzanne Fagence

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by COOPER, Suzanne Fagence. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais

The Model Wife: Effie, Ruskin and Millais. Suzanne Fagence Cooper

Victorians At Home and Abroad

Victorian Woman

Pre-Raphaelite Art in the Victoria and Albert Museum

Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais

How We Might Live: At Home with Jane and William Morris

The Ruskin Revival: 1969-2019

Victorian Woman