Alimony,

by Mrs. Faith Baldwin Cuthrell

Cuthrell, Faith Baldwin

Genres: Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1931

Reviews

[Nicholas George · Rating 2 out of 5]

This melodramatic little potboiler, written in the 1920s, has little to recommend it; however, it is fascinating in how it shows the powerlessness of women of that era. If you were a woman, you had very few options for getting by in life: you could either get married (the path most women took) and let your husband provide for you, or you could try to make it on your own (very difficult in a society that didn't value working women). Divorce had only begun to become marginally acceptable when this novel was written. Although it still came with a heavy whiff of scandal and disapproval, it allowed some women to break free of a loveless union. It is interesting that in this book, written by a woman, the men are the 'victims' of divorce (because of exorbitant alimony demands) and most of the women (except for the good, and ironically named, Eve) are shallow, conniving gold diggers. But then again, they could be seen as making their way the best way they could in a world where the odds were stacked against them.