I know! It’s summer! That’s robots punching robots time, not super tiny independent rom-com time! YET HERE WE ARE. The Big Sick is a mostly autobiographical film about Kumail Najiani, a Pakistani-American standup comic and actor (Silicon Valley, Franklin and Bash), and how he met his wife, Emily Gordon. While they were dating, Emily got incredibly and mysteriously sick, and was put into a medically induced coma for several weeks. (She recovered! That’s why they … Continue reading Movie Review: The Big Sick →
I feel like my love of the “royal dude falls in love with commoner girl and complications ensue” plot line is well-enough known. Now, take that plot, make it real, and have the complications include “family of royal dude is willing to cause an international cascading incident over it, and also the British Empire and the government of South Africa both hate this idea and are willing to pitch the biggest shitfit EVER over it” and you … Continue reading Movie Review: A United Kingdom →
Once upon a time there were two Victorian women who were best friends. Eleanor was, at 39, considered doomed to be a spinster by her aristocratic family, who vowed to send her to a nunnery. Sarah, age 23, was an orphan who was being pursued by her married and much older guardian. The women escaped from their homes dressed as men, and headed off to live a life of independence. Thus begins the Real Life … Continue reading Real Life Romance: The Ladies of Llangollen →
This month in Real Life Romance, I want to talk about Ahn Chang-ho (sometimes spelled Ahn Changho, and better known by his pen name, Dosan) and his wife Hye Ryon Lee (more frequently referred to as Helen, the name she used during her time in the United States). This couple spent most of their marriage apart, but they worked together seamlessly to promote Korean independence from Japan. Dosan was born in what is now North … Continue reading Real Life Romances: Dosan and Helen →
In this month’s Real Life Romance, we take a look at a brilliant eccentric, Margaret Cavendish, and her husband, William Cavendish, the Duke of Newcastle. William and Margaret married for love, and by all accounts they stayed in love through years of political exile, civil war, infertility, and economic struggle. Margaret became famous for her writing, which included a variety of genres and which she (scandalously) published under her own name. Margaret Lucas (1623 – … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Margaret and William Cavendish →
It’s time again for Real Life Romance, in which we discuss some of history’s most interesting couples. If you want relationship drama, look no further than the Tudors, and for drama with a more or less happy ending, behold Mary Tudor (not to be confused with Queen Mary I) and Charles Brandon, who risked everything to marry for love. Charles Brandon was an orphan. Because his father died in service to the throne, he was … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon →
This month I’m indebted to Celeste Bradley’s book I Thee Wed for bringing a Real Life Romance to my attention: Laura Bassi and Giuseppe Veratti. In a rather gratifying bit of role reversal, Giuseppe, who was a very active scientist, has fallen much more into obscurity than his scientist wife, Laura. Details about their marriage are lacking, but I was just too intrigued by the little I could discern to let this couple slip through my … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Laura Bassi and Giuseppe Veratti →
Long before a real life romance inspired the building of the Taj Mahal, India saw another real life romance play out in the royal family. The love story between Nur Jahan and Jahangir led to the expansion of the Mughal Empire, religious freedoms, and increased rights for women. It’s the story of a kickass woman and a man who liked her that way. Nur Jahan was born with the name Mohr-un-Nissa in what is now … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Nur Jahan and Jahangir →
This month in Real Life Romance, we talk about a particularly brilliant couple, Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. The Curie women all had amazing real life romances. Marie Curie’s real life romance with her husband, Pierre, is quite well known. If you’d like to learn more about it, I recommend a stunningly beautiful graphic novel, Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout, by Lauren Redniss. I gave it an A. Less famous, … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie →
