The Woman Who Was Chesterton

By: Nancy Carpentier Brown

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

This is a love story. But it is also a detective story. And best of all, it is a true story, told here for the the first time. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a romantic, a writer of detective tales, and a teller of the truth. His own story and the stories he told are becoming better and better known. But what has remained unknown is the story of the most important person in his life: his wife Frances.
Nancy Carpentier Brown has done incredible detective work to uncover the mystery of Frances, tracking a figure who managed to leave very few traces of herself.
It is quite likely that as more is discovered about Frances, more biographies will be written of her, and they will be even more complete. But they will all come back to this one.
- Dale Ahlquist, from the Foreword

A Biography of ...... who?

Still unsure as to why this woman was the subject of an entire book. Yes, she was a minor (very minor) poet and author in her own right but her main claim to fame was being married to an author whose writing and fame far eclipsed her's. This book ultimately highlights this fact despite claiming an intent not to do so. The author glosses over the subject's most interesting pathology: she requests her husband not mention her at all in his autobiography - and he complies! Now, this is self-abnegation worth investigating. Ditto for the way the subject infantilized her husband (e.g., she tied his shoes for him) which left one wondering if she was his lover or his mother. Ewww... The AI narration was pleasant to listen to but there were a few glitches of dead space before the voice picked up narration again and of course, a few mispronunciations (most notably Knute Rockne's name). In general though, I liked the narration.