The Duchess: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Amanda Foreman - Softcover

As gin gripped the masses, so gambling thralled the aristocracy. By 1784 Georgiana owed "many, many, many thousands", and the creditors she acquired dogged her until her death, but the sterility of her marriage meant that she never came close to disclosing the magnitude of her debts. Amanda Foreman describes astutely the mess that was personal relationships for the aristocratic subculture (Georgiana and the Duke engaged for many years in a ménage à trois with Lady Elizabeth Fraser, who inveigled her way into his bed and her heart). She is, by her own admission, a little in love with her subject, which can lead to occasional lapses of perspective, but generally it adds zest to a narrative built on, rather than burdened by, scholarship, that is at once accessible and learned. An impressive debut, in every sense. --David Vincent

‘Mesmerizing.’ Antonia Fraser, Literary Review

‘Well-written, extensively researched and highly readable... Gripping.’ Stella Tillyard, Mail on Sunday

‘An outstanding debut by a young biographer fully in control of her sources, and with an easy and elegant writing style.’ Roy Strong, Sunday Times

‘A pungent, intimate blend of biography and history...a provocative contribution to our understanding of women of the past.’ Jenny Uglow, Independent

‘Packed with fascinating information and grippingly good.’ Lisa Jardine

‘Real-life glamour, peppered with a menage a trois and a dose of depression...Curl up and devour it.’ Elle

‘A gorgeous Whig romp...[and] a serious, as well as seriously enjoyable, historical biography.’ Antonia Fraser, Sunday Times

‘Excellent and fascinating.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘From this very entertaining account emerges a vibrant picture of late-eighteenth-century life and politics, and the portrait of a rare and highly talented woman.’ Observer

‘A sparkling biography.’ Marie Claire

‘Brilliantly researched, compellingly told, this is biography of the first order.’ Daily Telegraph