In the context of medieval common law, raptus existed as a broad category encompassing a multitude of criminal (or quasi-criminal) acts, including rape, ravishment, elopement, adultery, political kidnapping, and even marital desertion. Given the scope of the term, it should come as no surprise that historians have continually misunderstood the nature of the act in studies of both legislation and law in practice, labeling men like Chaucer and Malory as rapists when it is now clear that their actions were, in fact, much less deviant. The process of extricating rape from abduction, in particular, owes much to the formative work of a cadre of scholars: J. B. Post, E. B. Ives, Sue Sheridan Walker, Morris S. Arnold, Emma Hawkes, and Henry Ansgar Kelly, among others. Caroline Dunn's new book acts as the testing ground, providing the necessary body of evidence to transform the theories of these earlier scholars into solid fact.

Dunn sets out to present a comprehensive study of raptus in its many forms. Chapter 1 addresses legal prescription. Dunn explains how the conflation of rape and abduction derives from Roman law's valorization of the father's consent over the woman's. However, the interpretation varied according to the emperor: while Constantine objected primarily to elopement, Justinian broadened the designation to punish also sexual assault premised on the woman's consent. Reception into English law saw similar shifts in definition as the term metamorphosed in response to contemporary anxieties over changing ideals (such as consent in marriage) or current events (chiefly, high-profile elopements). Dunn's close attention to language, above all the use of lexical doublets (such as, rapuit et abduxit), is particularly instructive in determining when the English were speaking of ravishment as opposed to rape. In doing so, Dunn sheds some desperately needed light on the commonly misunderstood Statutes of Westminster, explaining that, in fact, they had little to do with rape. Rather, the purpose of the statutes was to criminalize elopement and thus compensate a father for lost income when his headstrong daughter initiated an undesirable marriage against her father's will. The subsequent five chapters address raptus in its distinct manifestations: rape, forced marriage, elopement, adultery, and political kidnappings. In her analysis, Dunn contributes a number of fresh insights. For example, she argues that when a husband sued his wife's lover for ravishment, his singular motivation was to document her adulterous behavior, thus preventing any future claim to dower. She also revises perceptions of the value of out-of-court settlements for rape, reminding her readers that, much like the Anglo-Saxon injury tariffs, compensation for damages was popularly understood as a more fitting resolution than the death penalty.

In several respects, Stolen Women falls short of the mark. Dunn's research overlaps with that of countless others (especially Gwen Seabourne's 2012 Imprisoning Medieval Women: The Non-judicial Confinement and Abduction of Women in England, c. 1170–1509). Not only does she fail repeatedly to acknowledge the creative insights of other scholars, but in doing so she makes it difficult to trace exactly what is innovative about her own work. The project is overly ambitious. Dunn explains that her work is significant because it is comprehensive; however, her choice of sources makes it abundantly clear that ravishment was always her primary interest. If rape had been her focus, she would have examined rape appeals in coroners’ rolls, which are much more detailed and informative than anything the gaol delivery rolls might offer. A comprehensive study of rape would examine also the church courts, because as James Brundage has made clear, they too had jurisdiction over raptus, but their understanding of the crime seemed to necessitate both rape and abduction. Similarly, anyone seriously interested in coerced marriage would examine as well the evidence of the church courts (who had jurisdiction over marriage)—in particular, suits for annulment on the grounds of coercion. As a result, she offers nothing new on either subject; she also misses the fact that many of the women she talks about who appear as victims in the king's courts materialize as plaintiffs in suits for divorce in the ecclesiastical setting. Perhaps the most flagrant error, though, is Dunn's failure to comprehend the full import of her work. Chapter 2's discussion of conviction rates for medieval rape relies on a comparative analysis of the statistical findings of studies by other scholars; however, if, as she asserts, many previous historians have misconstrued ravishment for rape again and again, how are their statistics at all meaningful? Dunn astutely recognizes that cases of wife theft “camouflage unexpected tales of marital fluidity” (152), but she does not explore the full ramifications of this crossover. Marriage in the Middle Ages was a means to transfer property: as such, the two are integrally related subjects. Nevertheless, somehow property is a minor consideration in Dunn's work. Consequently, her study often glosses over the impetus for abduction and/or prosecution. For example, when a husband sued his wife's lover for abduction, did he want his wife returned, or was he chiefly concerned about her dowry and the goods she took with her? Finally, Dunn makes a number of wildly unsupported claims that chip away at the credibility of her work. Among others, it is hard to imagine how any editor permitted the following statement on spousal homicide to see its way into print: “Most frequently, the murdered spouse was the husband and the murder weapon of choice was poison” (138). Dunn turns to the popularity of the trope in literature to substantiate her point. Since when did legal historians start turning to literature for crime rates?

Dunn's handling of statute law with respect to rape and ravishment is far superior to any other work on the subject; as well, her efforts at charting changes in the interpretation of raptus over time will be greatly appreciated. If only that high quality of insight was sustained throughout the rest of the book.