Reviews for The Wives of Henry Oades

The average rating for The Wives of Henry Oades based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-12-13 00:00:00 Tina Dennis The Wives of Henry Oades was a debut historical fiction by Johanna Moran. I found it well done and for the most part I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Certainly for the first half I simply tore through the pages at a great pace but towards the end I began to feel frustrated with how things were progressing and I really didn't know how I wanted it to end. I guess in a warped kind of way these feelings of frustration and confusion were a positive sign. I mean I was invested enough in the plight of the characters, Margaret in particular, to be annoyed and frustrated on her behalf. This fictional story come into being after the author's law professor father found an abstract on the Oades case. It caught their attention and grew from there. Starting in London in 1890 we meet Henry and Margaret Oades. Henry has been promoted to a senior position in New Zealand. Reluctantly in Margaret's case, excitedly in Henry's, they and their two children embark on this journey. Over the next couple of years readers are familiarised with them as a lovely, affectionate couple, good parents now with twin baby girls, and supportive of each other. One day while Henry is away Maori's kidnap the family and burn the house to the ground leaving the charred remains of one adult female. On his return Henry is distraught and does everything in his power to find his family. People think he has lost his mind but he simply wont give up until eventually he is forced to accept their demise and a funeral is held for his beloved Meg (Margaret). Unable to go on in his normal life Henry takes a ship to California where he begins a new, largely solitary, life as a dairy farmer. Eventually, some six years down the track, he remarries. Nancy is a young widow with a new born, her husband lost in a house fire. Her pain resonates with Henry and his protective side shines through. After the shortest time he proposes and they are married a week later. Around this time in New Zealand, Margaret and children escape their captors and make their way to America fuelled by thoughts of their long anticipated family reunion. Imagine the shock and disappointment upon meeting Nancy Oades and her new baby. Hence, the plural "wives" in the title. Both wives very much alive and feeling entitled to their role as Henry's wife. What does he do? What should he do? Which of the two wives is most deserving of the title Mrs Henry Oades? The book forced me to consider these and many other questions and proved great fodder for thought . In todays age it may be different but the 1890's and early 1900's there were plenty of societal norms and attitudes at play and what is already a moral dilemma became even murkier. Several courts of law later, imprisonment, threats and actual acts of violence against them, the matter was eventually resolved. How? That would be telling. As I said earlier I'm not convinced I was satisfied with the ending but couldn't rightly say what a more suitable outcome would have been. I enjoyed this book and in hindsight perhaps a fraction more now I've had time to reflect upon it. I'm looking forward to my irl book club discussion tonight. 3.5 stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-21 00:00:00 Susan Pearson It's a good selection for a woman's book club--with discussions about what the two wives should have done, did they make the best possible choices, the social mores they were constrained by, the husband's love for each woman, in turn, and his children. This book has a gripping premise, fascinating characters, --and it's all based on a true story!