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

Once upon a time there were two very bad people. They had a son who was not very bad, just bad. He married a lovely young woman who was, and remained, without blemish. Unfortunately this lovely young woman did not turn her husband on and their marriage ended. Luckily a dashing young artist was on hand. He married the young woman and he was turned on by her and they had lots of children.Here is the story of Mr and Mrs Ruskin senior, their son John, Effie Gray and Everett Millais, and such, at times is how the book reads, especially up to Millais' marriage to Effie. It certainly reads a lot like a novel and the author is very willing to attribute emotions to her characters withou justification.But what a story it is and the book is unputdownable. The style is simple and clear. The inherent feminist tack never grates. The tribulations of having a large family in the nineteenth century are graphically described. Illness is never far away and infant mortality too. Constant pregnancies dominate women's lives. Here are family history, art history, and social history skilfully combined. The tale never flags.The illustrations are disappointing and inevitably there are many paintings referred to which have no illustration. Google is a valuable accompaniment, even an essential one.A highly recommended book.

This book is excellent in every way. it is well-written and a good read and a good mix of history, biography and art. The author is drawing on a treasure trove of Millais family letters, it gives a good flavour of Victorian middle-class life. The information about many of Millais' paintings is fascinating. I could not put it down. One tiny negative point is that towards the end of the book, after the death of Effie's father, the book jumps back to the time when he was alive while the author gets her readers up to speed with some details of Effie's sisters' lives. But, all in all, an excellent and informative read.

This is a bit of a niche novel but is really informative and so well researched. It is the romantic story of Effie Grey who was married to Ruskin and Millais the painter. So it is a love story. It has been carefully reconstructed using a cache of letters amongst other sources and the story is good enough for a novel. It is essentially a history though and perhaps more extraordinary for that as it provides such a vivid window into Victorian life. I enjoyed it and bought a copy to give as a Christmas present.

I loved this film!Having recently visited Brantwood - John Ruskin's home in the Lake District, I was keen to learn more about him and this film certainly gave me plenty of food for thought.The actors in the film have all been brilliantly cast and I was engrossed from the start right until the end. Highly recommended.

The story is good but felt the writing of it should have been more in sequence with the dates of events. I feel that it would have been better if the author had not kept jumping from the present to the past and then to the future then back to the present.

A wonderful book charting the bizarre 1st marriage of Effie and then to her beloved Everett. A really enjoyable and informative read.

Not yet watched. However, I have read the book however.Will be interesting to see how it matches up with that!

Interesting book, I enjoyed reading it though I thought at times the author had made a guess at some of the protagonists motivations in a rather judgemental way.

I love art and of course its a true story.....

I’ve read so much about Effie and John Ruskin. We will never know the truth about their failed marriage but at least this book relies upon archived letters from all parties...

Very pleased

Very informative a good read

Great book, really informative but easy to read

The author had privileged access to Gray family letters and papers, this enabled her to write a detailed account of the life and marriages of Effie Gray.

Very prompt delivery . Very interesting book

This was a fascinating insight into Victorian society and attitudes;however as the information was amassed from letters I felt it was a cardboard cut out of the characters that we...

Thank you for the quick delivery and a perfect book i