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The Divorce Colony

Author: 

April White

This interesting short ebook looks at the period in US history when divorce was just starting to become acceptable. The laws were still against it, so people in search of divorce would move to the state with the most lenient laws in order to get a divorce. They would need to establish residency before they could file their case, which led to the create of a community of divorce-seekers, waiting for residency. This book focuses on the "divorce colony" in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the early 1890s, using the case of the Baroness Margaret Laura De Stuers as an example. The story is well-written and well told, and the use of the example case both fleshes out the story and adds some suspense. This is a very enjoyable quick read that taught me something about an era of US history when the moral panic over marriage was about whether people should be allowed to end their marriages.

Favorite Thing: 
The parallels the author draws to the marriage-related moral panic of our time.
The Divorce Colony book cover
Book Length: 
Shortest
Part of Series: 
Not part of a series
Stand Alone: 
Yes
Stickiness: 
Moderate
Disclosures: 
None