Man and Wife vs The Law and the Lady: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Married women, Married people, British and irish fiction, England, English literature, Fiction
Man and Wife
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On a summer's morning, between thirty and forty years ago, two girls were crying bitterly in the cabin of an East Indian passenger ship, bound outward, from Gravesend to Bombay.
The Law and the Lady
“In offering this book to you, I have no Preface to write.”
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Three years ago, her husband stood accused of murder -- and the verdict that came in from the jury was the Scottish Verdict, Not Proven. The jury had not evidence enough to convict him -- nor enough to comfortably…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Law and the Lady has the widest readership — 3504 ratings behind its score.
- The Law and the Lady runs the darker storyline; Man and Wife stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Man and Wife | The Law and the Lady | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (1508) | 3.8 (3504) |
| Hardcover | 2.0 (1) | 3.1 (5) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 5.0 (12) | 4.0 (59) |
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Reception
| Man and Wife | The Law and the Lady | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1508 | 3504 |
| Editions | 114 | 384 |
| Citations | 22 | 22 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 2178 | 4296 |
| Reading it now | 73 | 286 |
| Written reviews | 171 | 361 |
| Wikipedia attention | 331 | 1529 |
| Pages | 423 | 392 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Man and Wife or The Law and the Lady?
Man and Wife has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Man and Wife 3.9/5, The Law and the Lady 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Man and Wife or The Law and the Lady?
The Law and the Lady is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Law and the Lady (392 pages, ≈ 7 h 16 m); Man and Wife (423 pages, ≈ 7 h 50 m).
Which is harder to read: Man and Wife or The Law and the Lady?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Man and Wife: Challenging; The Law and the Lady: Demanding.