source: ARC/free review copy via AmazonVine
title: It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History
author: Jennifer Wright
published: November 3, 2015
pages: 240
genre: humor/non-fiction/history
rated: 3 1/2 out of 5 for humor, history and gossip
blurb:
A history of heartbreak-replete with beheadings, uprisings, creepy sex dolls, and celebrity gossip-and its disastrously bad consequences throughout time
Spanning eras and cultures from ancient Rome to medieval England to 1950’s Hollywood, Jennifer Wright’s It Ended Badly guides you through the worst of the worst in historically bad breakups. In the throes of heartbreak, Emperor Nero had just about everyone he ever loved-from his old tutor to most of his friends-put to death. Oscar Wilde’s lover, whom he went to jail for, abandoned him when faced with being cut off financially from his wealthy family and wrote several self-serving books denying the entire affair. And poor volatile Caroline Lamb sent Lord Byron one hell of a torch letter and enclosed a bloody lock of her own pubic hair. Your obsessive social media stalking of your ex isn’t looking so bad now, is it?
With a wry wit and considerable empathy, Wright digs deep into the archives to bring these thirteen terrible breakups to life. She educates, entertains, and really puts your own bad breakup conduct into perspective. It Ended Badly is for anyone who’s ever loved and lost and maybe sent one too many ill-considered late-night emails to their ex, reminding us that no matter how badly we’ve behaved, no one is as bad as Henry VIII.
my thoughts:
Jennifer Wright had me laughing out loud with It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History. The history buff in me wanted to read this one as soon as I saw the title.
Some of the couples that Wright gives us the breakup dish on I had heard of, like Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and Oscar Wilde with Lord Alfred Douglas. Other couples such as Nero and Poppaea, were among the ones I did not know of.
Caroline Lamb and Lord Byron’s breakup story was my favorite. I was stunned, I couldn’t help but laugh at some of these people’s behavior and I had to Google them to see if it was true.
“Byron and Lady Jane-and this fact is often glossed over in history books-were monster- people.”
p.120 It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History by Jennifer Wright