Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais

'Effie Gray's story is extraordinary and Cooper feasts upon it with appetite ... I cannot recommend Fagence Cooper's biography of Effie Gray more highly to anyone with a heart, a liking for a good read and an interest in things Victorian' -- Henrietta Garnett * Literary Review * 'This is an exceptional book about an exceptional trio and the exceptional families that formed them' * The Scotsman * 'A joy to read - a wonderful, rich book' -- Emma Thompson At last Effie Millais has been given her voice and it is marvelous one. Effie emerges as a courageous, intelligent, resourceful, woman who refused to go quietly. In unsettling Victorian society, she left the door ajar for generations of women. Suzanne Fagence Cooper elegantly brings to life the glittering world of Victorian art and the socially complicated one of a woman who wed the two cultural giants of the age and not only survived, but thrived! Effie's story is a haunting one. I couldn't put it down. * Linda Lear, author of Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature *

The Scottish beauty Effie Gray is the heroine of a great Victorian love story. Married at 19 to John Ruskin, she found herself trapped in an unconsummated union. She would fall in love with her husband's protege, John Everett Millais, and inspire some of his most memorable art, but controversy and tragedy continued to stalk her. Suzanne Fagence Cooper has gained exclusive access to Effie's family letters and diaries to show the rise and fall of the Pre-Raphaelite circle from a new perspective, through the eyes of a woman whose charm and ambition helped to shape the careers of both her husbands. Effie Gray is a compelling portrait of the extraordinary woman behind some of the greatest paintings of the Victorian era.