It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History
A history of heartbreak-replete with beheadings, uprisings, creepy sex dolls, and celebrity gossip-and its disastrously bad consequences throughout time
Spanning eras and cultures from ancient Rome to medieval England to 1950s Hollywood, Jennifer Wright's It Ended Badly guides you through the worst of the worst in historically bad breakups. In the throes of heartbreak, Emperor Nero had just about everyone he ever loved-from his old tutor to most of his friends-put to death. Oscar Wilde's lover, whom he went to jail for, abandoned him when faced with being cut off financially from his wealthy family and wrote several self-serving books denying the entire affair. And poor volatile Caroline Lamb sent Lord Byron one hell of a torch letter and enclosed a bloody lock of her own pubic hair. Your obsessive social media stalking of your ex isn't looking so bad now, is it?
With a wry wit and considerable empathy, Wright digs deep into the archives to bring these thirteen terrible breakups to life. She educates, entertains, and really puts your own bad breakup conduct into perspective. It Ended Badly is for anyone who's ever loved and lost and maybe sent one too many ill-considered late-night emails to their ex, reminding us that no matter how badly we've behaved, no one is as bad as Henry VIII.
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Community Reviews
So of course, I checked it out. As an audiobook, Hillary does a fantastic job narrating! I enjoyed listening as I drove to and from work, packed, cleaned, etc. The style this book is written in is almost designed for episodic reading, which I really liked! I enjoyed starting a chapter and knowing in 40ish minutes I can pause and not feel like I have to continue immediately. The book was v interesting, especially if you are interested in lesser known drama of random notable people.
I know what you're thinking:
Wow. It must have really sucked!
Wrong.
So wrong.
Completely, totally 1000% wrong.
I love Jennifer Wright's writing style so much that I hate the thought of not having anything new of hers to read. This leads to me reading just a bit by bit at a time as a special reward to myself for being such a spectacular human being.
I picked this up when my first "relationship" after my divorce was nearly over. I am using the word relationship in the loosest form possible. My marriage ended badly. My first post-divorce "relationship" was going badly and bound to end badly. I needed this book. I needed it for some perspective if nothing else.
Have you ever sent your ex-lover a bloodstained hunk of pubic hair and demanded in return a moderate amount of blood? No, you have not. You are good at handling your emotions and keeping private bodily parts private.
Hmm...maybe it hasn't been so bad after all. I really have my shit together in comparison!
I love the conversational tone Wright uses. She is hilarious but also incredibly informative. I have learned more about history in reading her handful of books than I did during years of snoozefest history classes. I adore that she is a gal's gal and that while this has a fair share of fun historical gossip, it isn't gossipy in an "attack and mock all other women" way. I always find myself reading excerpts of her books to anyone near me because I want them to A) learn a cool new fact and B) laugh with me. My current boyfriend was my last
5 I'd-do-it-all-over-again Stars
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