Overview

"Taunton, 1817. What seems a simple newspaper report of ""elopement gone wrong"" turns out to be a rollercoaster story of crime, coercion, illusory triumph and fraudulent defeat. Barrister George Tuckett wakes to discover that his 16-year-old niece Maria Glenn, reputedly the heiress to West Indian sugar plantations, is missing. He discovers that she has been abducted by the Bowditches, a local farming family, who intend to force her to marry one of their sons. Maria is rescued and Tuckett starts investigating the crime himself, uncovering a complex and disturbing web of lies and impersonation. At a drama-filled trial that is the talk of the country, four people are sentenced to prison. When a cabal of powerful people in Taunton begin a campaign to destroy Maria's testimony, her supporters fall away and she is openly vilified. Her enemies have her arrested for perjury and, after a ramshackle trial, she is forced to flee into exile. Yet the story of conspiracy and deception does not end there, as Maria and her uncle were to suffer one final and devastating betrayal. But was Maria telling the truth? Both sides had given utterly different versions of events during the trial - so it was clear that someone had to be lying. 32 illustrations"

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9781473863309

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The audience for this book includes general readers, history buffs, and scholars in history, law, and women's studies. The book provides an accessible account of the (possibly staged) kidnapping of 16-year-old heiress Maria Glenn from her uncle's home in the village of Taunton, England, in 1817. The kidnapping, rescue, investigation, trial, and imprisonment of many members of the Bowditch family serve to highlight the period's laws surrounding marriage, forced marriage, elopement, and women's property ownership. --ProtoView

Author Information

Naomi Clifford likes nothing better than sharing extraordinary real-life stories from the past. Her previous books include The Disappearance of Maria Glenn, which looked at the abduction of a young heiress in 1817, and _Women and the Gallows 1797 to 1837: Unfortunate Wretches (November 2017)_, about the hanging of 131 women for crimes ranging from husband murder to sheep stealing.

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