WomenofFortunetellsthecompellingstoryofmercantilewealth,arrangedmarriages,andmerchantheiresseswhoassertedtheirrightsdespiteloss,imprisonment,andmurder.FollowingthreegenerationsoftheBennetandMorewoodfamilies,whomadetheirfortuneinCrownfinance,theEastIndies,theAmericas,andmoneylending,LindaLevyPeckexploresthechangingsociety,economy,andcultureofearlymodernEngland.Theheiresses-curious,intrepid,entrepreneurial,scholarly-marriedintothearistocracy,foughtfortheirproperty,andwrotephilosophy.OnespentyearsontheGrandTour.HerlifeinEurope,despitetheoutbreakofwar,isvividlydocumented.Another’shusbandwenttodebtors’prison.Sherecoveredthefortuneandboughtshares.Husbands,sons,andcontemporarieschallengedtheirindependencelegally,financially,evenviolently,butnewformsofwealth,education,andthelawenabledtheseheiressestoinsistontheirownagency,createtheirownidentities,andprovideexamplesforlatergenerations.
