Writer Irene Vallejo has reposted a newspaper clipping on her Instagram wall that deserves a place in every library, somewhere between the oddities section and the great monuments of documented triviality.
The news reports that Bette Davis, the movie star with the strong jaw and busy schedule, was officially divorced by her husband Harmon O. Nelson, under the unusual charge of “She reads too much.” This is the perfect epitaph for marital ignorance.
Just like that, without metaphors or embellishments: in the era of big headlines, the press opted for brutal honesty. The year was 1938. The marriage did not survive the fact that Davis preferred to spend her time between the pages of a book rather than in predictably shorter and less edited marital conversations.
The document recounts it with the serenity of someone announcing a cattle auction: Mr. Nelson presented evidence that his wife put her career and her library before her marital duties. Duties that, in his imagination, were an inseparable part of the marriage contract.
Still, one wonders: what was “too much” for this gentleman? A sonnet at breakfast? An essay at dusk? Reciting Molly Bloom’s monologue just before the lewd act?
At Bookish & Co., we recognize this gem as a monument to a time when reading too much was not only a marital problem, but a legal argument. And, frankly, we don’t think it’s the worst of crimes.
Keep reading. If anyone considers it grounds for litigation, you can always cite this historical precedent. It’s in the archives.
