Katie Donington, The bonds of family: Slavery, commerce and culture in the British Atlantic world (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020). Pages xiii + 320 + figures 18 + family trees 7. £80 hardback, £25.00 paperback.

Abstract

They analyze household structure and co-residence patterns. They chart the economy of single women and widows using information about occupation, land and house ownership and in some cases even the presence of servants in the household. We are given insights into legal systems affecting inheritance, migration patterns affecting the presence or absence of kin and social stratification and change. The book attempts to compare regional perspectives and a more international perspective, to analyze mechanisms in society related to singleness and question the notion that marriage was a self-evident ideal in traditional Spanishand Portuguese-speaking societies. The background to this ambitious project can be found in several research collaborations, seminars and conferences engaged in the study of households, economy, social development and gender. To tackle all these questions the book presents nine chapters from Spain, covering regions reaching from the north to the south and the east to the west, and eight chapters on Latin America including Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Costa Rica. The time span of the chapters stretches from the seventeenth to the twentyfirst century, with many chapters dealing with individual-level data from the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The main sources are censuses, listings, legal documents, court records and fiscal documents, but narrative sources like manuals and literature have also been included. Even with such an extensive number of contributions, naturally the whole of Spain cannot be covered, never mind Latin America. But as the aim has been to include localities presenting a large number of geographic and socioeconomic environments, one must conclude that the representativeness appears satisfactory. The extensive time span also gives the opportunity for a broad-ranging exploration and allows for comparisons between the past and the present. As a conclusion one cannot but agree with the editor that the contributions certainly demonstrate that to be single or widowed, i.e. devoid of a partner, a ‘soltera’ was definitely part of society in the past as it is today.