I'm John Datscher with Barbara Weisberg.

Her new book is strong passions, a scandalous divorce in old New York.

Mary and Peter, they come home to Waverly. Mamie is born, their child in 1854, and now they're

living in the country, not isolated, the family is overrun with servants. There's many horses. There are lots of

parages. Mary's family, the Stevens are in Manhattan and father gets more and more prominent so that Mary consoles him in the great

panic of 1857. She's a strong side, a strong daughter to John Austin Stevens.

In this meantime, Mary's going through

birth and miscarriages.

I, Barbara, forgive me if I don't have the chronology right, but the Mamie is born in 54, there's a miscarriage

in 55.

They go overseas for two or three years traveling Genoa Rome

prominent family visiting other prominent families and there's another

miscarriage in 57 I believe whether it happens overseas or coming home. But none

of this is unusual to your very careful research. The marriage is

substantive and supportive and busy in these years, is that correct,

Barbara?

So it seems, indeed, with one caveat, Mary is almost from the beginning restless living at Waverly. She always longed for a home of her own.

She grown up with eight siblings

and here she was again in a crowded household only.

Now they weren't even her siblings siblings they were her in-laws and

and for a young woman of her social class it would have been probably

she felt more appropriate to have a home of her own with her husband

...