In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a queen who offers a lascivious knight the following option in court: if he can discover what women most desire within a year, his life will be spared. If he cannot, he will die. As he roams from placed to place and as different women offer contradictory answers, he realizes he may never find the correct response, until he finds an old woman who whispers the truth in his ear — women want sovereignty over men. In Chaucer’s mind, it’s that simple. However, the  books we’ve rounded up deal with the complex topic of spousal authority and interrupted lives through a different lens, be it via the experience of a young doctor dealing with an abrupt death in the family, a bride living in the shadow of a brash writer in Jazz Age Paris, or a woman desperately searching for a man to take care of her. These are the wives of history, and we are finally able to see their side of the story. … Read More