Wives and Stunners: The Pre-Raphaelites and Their Muses Book

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.