Fascinating journey into the mostly failed marriages of famous people in the Victorian era and how the institution of marriage was and probably is much better for men than women. The best coupling in the book is between George Elliot and George Henry Lewes who were actually never married, but lived together after his marriage went sour, because his wife had 4 children with another man! The worst marriage depicted is between Charles Dickens and Catharine Hogarth. He was very cruel to his wife after 20 years of marriage and 10 children. He kicked her out of their home and never let her see her children again. He blamed her for having all those children, and also several miscarriages (as though he had nothing to do with it). She had become fat and unattractive and he got himself a lovely young mistress. As the author say, her life became. . ."a kind of living death. His behavior towards her, accentuated by his self-righteous posturing, seems little short of murder."