Shapely Ankle Preferr'd
  • Published: 15 February 2012
  • ISBN: 9780099513346
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $32.99
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Shapely Ankle Preferr'd

A History of the Lonely Hearts Ad 1695 - 2010

Formats & editions
EBook
1 Aug 2011
Paperback
15 Feb 2012
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A lively history of Lonely Hearts ads, and the stories that go with them.

What do women look for in a man? And what do men look for in a woman? And how and why has this changed over the centuries?

Every week thousands of people advertise for love either in newspapers, magazines or online. But if you think this is a modern phenomenon, think again - the ads have been running for over three hundred years. From the first ad in 1695 from a young gentleman who 'would willingly Match himself to some Good Young Gentlewoman, that has a Fortune of £3000 or thereabouts' to the GSOH, WLTM and online dating of more recent years, each ad is a snapshot of its age. The result is a startling history of sex, marriage and society over three centuries - hilarious and heartbreaking by turn.
  • Published: 15 February 2012
  • ISBN: 9780099513346
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $32.99
Categories:
Share…

About the author

Francesca Beauman

Francesca Beauman is a writer, historian and television presenter. Born in London in 1977, she was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College then Cambridge University, graduating with a First Class degree in History. She divides her time between London and Los Angeles.

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Praise for Shapely Ankle Preferr'd

Shapely Ankle Preferr'd is an absorbing and intelligent history of the pursuit of love

Daisy Goodwin, Sunday Times

Shapely Ankle Preferr'd is a perfect little history of the surprisingly long story of those who WLTM

Melissa Katsoulis, Sunday Telegraph

Elegant, witty, wise and utterly delightful

Christopher Hart, Literary Review

An exploration of the way or attitudes to love, relationships, sex and marriage have evolved over the past three centuries... Fascinating, illuminating and thought-provoking

Easy Living

[A] sympathetic, wide-ranging survey of lonely people looking for love

Charlotte Heathcote, Express

Wonderfully enjoyable

Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

Beauman has produced a meticulously researched, amusing and poignant study of human nature

Izabella Scott, Financial Times

This thorough and thoroughly amusing book suggest that what lonely hearts have always needed is a thick skin, a willing heart and, above all, a GSOH

Arifa Akbar, Independent

Anything but dry or academic

Alastair Mabbott, Herald

A clever history

William Leith, Evening Standard