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This new biography of Lady Blessington, the first in more than
eighty years, illuminates the private and public life of this
important but neglected salonniere and author. This study enriches
our knowledge of the social, political, and literary history of the
post-Romantic and early Victorian era. It examines Lady
Blessington's close friendships with politicians and writers,
especially Edward Bulwer Lytton and Benjamin Disraeli. Statesmen,
diplomats, writers, and artists were her constant visitors, as they
found her friendship and conversation invaluable to their
professional and social lives. The circumstances of a life lived in
luxury and indulgence changed upon the death of Lady Blessington's
husband, forcing her to support herself and several dependents with
her writing. Throughout this biography, Lady Blessington's voice is
evident and should reawaken scholarly and popular interest in her
voluminous works. She wrote twenty novels in genres including
silver-fork fiction, psychological drama, and verse narrative. She
also produced four travel books, many short stories, and numerous
poems and edited the popular literary gift annuals Heath's Book of
Beauty and The Keepsake. This book reveals the humanity of a woman
whom contemporary gossip considered scandalous because of her
alleged relationship with her stepdaughter's estranged husband,
Count D'Orsay. Lady Blessington's struggle in the face of many
challenges is an inspiring story of individual strength. It is a
tale of a woman whose legacy of integrity, determination, and sheer
hard work provides us with enlarged insights into an era and
society often overlooked by history.
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