The manuscript of our Finnish book project is presently in the review process. Meanwhile, I am happy to announce the book Stepfamilies in Europe, 1400-1800, edited by Lyndan Warner. While the present day discussion about the family tends to put emphasis on the present day remarriages and divorces, this book reminds the readers that stepfamilies were very common in the European past, too. The people of the past also had to deal with the problems of new family members.
As stated by the publisher, "Stepfamilies in Europe, 1400–1800 is the first in-depth study to chart four centuries of continuity and change for these complex families created by the death of a parent and the remarriage of the survivor. With geographic coverage from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and from the Atlantic coast to Central Europe, this collection of essays from leading scholars compares how religious affiliation, laws and cultural attitudes shaped stepfamily realities."
In the Chapter 3, Anu Lahtinen, leader of the project Perheen jäljillä - Gender and Family, analyses Stepfamilies in Sweden and "the family in process between bloodlines and continuity".
More information about the book https://www.crcpress.com/Stepfamilies-in-Europe-1400-1800/Warner/p/book/9780815382140
The Review published in Reviews in History https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/2326
Dr Maria Cannon, review of Stepfamilies in Europe 1400-1800, (review no. 2326), DOI: 10.14296/RiH/2014/2326 (Date accessed: 5 September, 2019)
