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

England’s straitlaced Victorian era rejected women’s rights on so many levels. Here, Effie Gray’s struggles with society, divorce, and independence are documented in a splendid performance by Sophie Ward. With a cultured British lilt Ward details Effie’s unhappy first marriage, never consummated, to art critic and patron John Ruskin as well as her second, gloriously happy but controversial union with artist John Millais. Although Cooper had to piece together some of Effie’s biography, those interpretations provide the cohesiveness necessary for her depiction of this prejudiced, stuffy era and the hardships faced by women. Against this backdrop Effie’s strength, intelligence, and determination are all the more noteworthy. Cooper and Ward boldly introduce listeners to a bold pioneer who paved the way for all women. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2012]