A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 A TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2021 A
TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF 2021 'A scintillating story superbly told...
[Ostler] packs every paragraph with eye-opening detail' Ysenda
Maxtone Graham, The Times 'A rollicking read... [Ostler] tells
Elizabeth's story with admirable style and gusto' Dominic
Sandbrook, Sunday Times 'Fascinating. Magnificent. Sensitively
told' Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five and The Covent Garden
Ladies 'Catherine Ostler's superb, gripping, decadent biography
brings an extraordinary woman and a whole world blazingly to life'
Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Catherine the Great and Potemkin
A Vogue Best Book of 2021 When the glamorous Elizabeth Chudleigh,
Duchess of Kingston, Countess of Bristol, went on trial at
Westminster Hall for bigamy in April 1776, the story drew more
attention in society than the American War of Independence. A
clandestine, candlelit wedding to the young heir to an earldom, a
second marriage to a Duke, a lust for diamonds and an electrifying
appearance at a masquerade ball in a diaphanous dress: no wonder
the trial was a sensation. However, Elizabeth refused to submit to
public humiliation and retire quietly. Rather than backing
gracefully out of the limelight, she embarked on a Grand Tour of
Europe, being welcomed by the Pope and Catherine the Great among
others. As maid of honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth
led her life in the inner circle of the Hanoverian court and her
exploits delighted and scandalised the press and the people. She
made headlines, and was a constant feature in penny prints and
gossip columns. Writers were intrigued by her. Thackeray drew on
Elizabeth as inspiration for his calculating, alluring Becky Sharp.
But her behaviour, often depicted as attention-seeking and
manipulative, hid a more complex tale - that of Elizabeth's fight
to overcome personal tragedy and loss. Now, in this brilliantly
told and evocative biography, Catherine Ostler takes a fresh look
at Elizabeth's story and seeks to understand and reappraise a woman
who refused to be defined by society's expectations of her. A woman
who was by turns, brave, loving and generous but also reckless,
greedy and insecure; a woman totally unwilling to accept the female
status of underdog or to hand over all the power, the glory and the
adventures of life to men.
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