Chloe's Harvard Book Store reading publicized in The Boston Globe.
An "engrossing first work." -- The Observer.
"The disarming narrative of an engaging oddball." -- The Telegraph
"A spirited and thought-provoking work." -- The Sunday Times
Review in The New York Times Book Review: "Schama spins a fine story ..."
Newly Released Books in The New York Times
Chloe Schama named "One to Watch" by The Guardian.
"Relative values: Simon Schama and his daughter Chloë" in TimesOnline.co.uk
Praise for Wild Romance:
“Chloe Schama will delight her readers. She writes with confidence and passion, yet with a sensitivity for her subject which is wonderfully appealing. I finished the book with regret, wanting more and impatient for a sequel.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire
"Wild Romance is a book that will take you for a whooping ride from the highlands of Scotland to the majestic beauty of Yosemite to the mystical power of Hong Kong Harbor. Our heroine, Teresina, is a woman who fights for a life of conventional marriage, yet in her struggle, discovers she is destined for much more. This is history that reads like quality, page-turning fiction. It is at once riveting and enlightening."—Elin Hilderbrand New York Times bestselling author of Barefoot and The Castaways.
"Bringing together a Victorian novelist’s reach and richness with the discerning intelligence of a twenty first century literary biographer, Chloe Schama creates a thrilling narrative that locates the themes of Victorian scandal and adventure within contemporary feminist values of courage and autonomy. Schama’s fine acrobatic grace enables her to tread the tightrope between the constraints of history and the Wild Romance of an unfulfilled life. This is a work that turns archival materials into the memorable stuff of life—Homi K. Bhabha Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities Department of English, Harvard University Director, Humanities Center at Harvard.
"A journalist pursues an abandoned Victorian wife who turned her plight into a surprising career as a writer and world traveler. Schama stumbled on the scandalous story of Theresa Longworth Yelverton and her bigamist husband in a footnote about the origins of the Wilkie Collins novel Man and Wife. The several trials in Dublin and Edinburgh during the 1860s, which attempted to ascertain whether William Charles Yelverton had actually married Theresa or not before he married someone else, created enormous publicity at the time and challenged disparate laws governing marriage, especially between people of different faiths (she was Catholic, he was not). The two met on a steamer headed to Dover in 1852. Theresa was a 17-year-old convent-educated daughter of a Manchester silk manufacturer, and William was a 28-year-old Irish aristocrat in the Royal Artillery. After meeting, she boldly wrote to him a slew of fulsome correspondence that would later be used in the trials to discredit her. Schama chronicles their two marriage ceremonies, one informally performed in Scotland, the other in an Irish church, but neither had witnesses because Yelverton’s family would not abide marrying a Catholic and he possessed a “labyrinth” of inheritance difficulties. Shortly thereafter, William married another woman, and Theresa appealed to the public prosecutor in Edinburgh. Throughout the various trials and appeals, Theresa became a public advocate of marriage-law reforms. She was portrayed as young woman corrupted by her French education and by novels, immodest and unfeminine in her bold assertions that women could enjoy productive pursuits. Restless and constantly seeking, she later wrote novels and autobiographical accounts of her travels to America, Southeast Asia and South Africa, among others. She was, writes Schama, “perhaps the first woman to turn unwanted celebrity into a journalistic advantage.” A compelling footnote that could ignite interest in Yelverton’s work."—Kirkus Reviews
“Schama breathes new life into the story of one woman’s dogged determination to salvage her tattered reputation and forge an independent life for herself in the aftermath of a publicly debated scandal and a failed marriage.”—Booklist.
“A nonfiction debut most writers only dream abo...Chloe Schama’s retelling of the history of one of Victorian England's most notorious scandals reads like a novel itself history buffs and those who enjoy a good, old-fashioned scandal will find charm here”—Library Journal.