Wives and Stunners

Essentially a domestic biography whose main concern is the tragicomedy of manners enacted by a closely knit group of friends and lovers, Wives and Stunners tells the story of Janey Morris, Georgie Burne-Jones, Lizzie Siddall, Effie Gray and less well-known, Marie Spartali, Aglaia Coronio and Mary Zambacco. These women were the wives, mistresses andmuses, of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the inspiration behind the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and John Millais. Set against the background of mid-Victorian bohemian England, Henrietta Garnett vividly evokes the world they inhabited and the lives they lived. She recounts the romances and friendships between the artists and the 'stunners' in a lively and original way and her book will appeal to anyone interested in Victorian England, the history of the Pre-Raphaelites and, significantly, to everyone who wants to read a spellbinding story of a bygone era.

Henrietta Garnett is the author of several memoirs, and of an acclaimed novel, Family Skeletons. She is the daughter of Angelica Garnett, granddaughter of the artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, and daughter-in-law of the diarist Frances Partridge. Her biography of her ancester Anny Thackeray, daughter of the novelist, aunt of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf, was published to great critical acclaim in 2004. She lives in London.

Introduction - i: Introduction Chapter - 1: The Formation of the P. R. B. Chapter - 2: Effie and the Ruskins Chapter - 3: Married Life Chapter - 4: The Ruskins and the Pre-Raphaelites Chapter - 5: En Plein Air Chapter - 6: Lizzie Becomes Ophelia Chapter - 7: Venice Regained Chapter - 8: The Horror of Herne Hill Chapter - 9: At Glenfinlas Chapter - 10: Consequences Chapter - 11: The Great Escape Chapter - 12: The Dissolution of the P. R. B. Chapter - 13: Lizzie and Gabriel Chapter - 14: The Second Generation: The Revival of the P. R. B. and the Decline of Lizzie Siddal Chapter - 15: Weddings in the Wind Chapter - 16: Red House Chapter - 17: Lizzie's Tragedy Chapter - 18: Italian Interlude Chapter - 19: Tudor House Chapter - 20: Mr and Mrs Burne-Jones Chapter - 21: A Greek Tragedy Chapter - 22: Aftermath Chapter - 23: Janey Chapter - 24: Bad Ems Chapter - 25: Cracking Up Chapter - 26: Kelmscott Chapter - 27: Nemesis Chapter - 28: The End of the Firm Chapter - 29: The Last Janey Picture Chapter - 30: Morris at Leek Chapter - 31: The Last Picture Show Acknowledgements - ii: Acknowledgements Unit - iii: Select Bibliography Unit - iv: Notes Index - v: Index