Never Married: Singlewomen in Early Modern England

This is the first book of original research on the women who never married in early modern England. Amy Froide looks at how singlewomen's lives differed from those of wives and widows, at the social relationships of women without husbands, and at how these women supported themselves. She also examines the economic and civic contributions singlewomen made to urban life and explores the English origins of the spinster and old maid stereotype.