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There have always been mail-order brides in America but we haven t always thought about them in the same ways. In Buying a Bride, Marcia A. Zug starts with the so-called Tobacco Wives of the Jamestown colony and moves all the way forward to today s modern same-sex mail-order grooms to explore the advantages and disadvantages of mail-order marriage. It s a history of deception, physical abuse, and failed unions. It s also the story of how mail-order marriage can offer women surprising and empowering opportunities. Drawing on a forgotten trove of colorful mail-order marriage court cases, Zug explores the many troubling legal issues that arise in mail-order marriage: domestic abuse and murder, breach of contract, fraud (especially relating to immigration) , and human trafficking and prostitution.