Amanda Foreman is the daughter of Carl Foreman (director of High Noon, The Bridge On the River Kwai, Born Free). She was born in 1968, grew up on film sets and is now a research fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She has written for various publications, including the New York Times. This is her first book.
'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
'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
HShe was the most prominent British woman of her day. Whatever she wore became instantly fashionable, and her parties were the ones to attend. Royals, aristocrats and politicians sought her opinion, for she was as influential as she was beautiful. Princess Diana? No, her great-great-great-great-aunt, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806). A bestseller in the U.K. and the winner of the 1999 Whitbread Prize for Best Biography, Foreman's debut is captivating not just because of Georgiana--whose insecurity, demented love life and gambling addiction made her personal life even more dismal than Diana's--but also because Foreman's portrayal of high society in late-18th-century Britain and France is so remarkably vivid. Foreman gives readers the aristocracy fighting for control over Parliament, King George slowly losing his mind, his love-struck son ill-prepared to take the throne, and more bed-hopping than on a TV soap opera. Georgiana, who bore an out-of-wedlock child with politician Charles Grey, knew that her best friend was her husband's mistress, but that was the least of her problems. Prone to drinking, drug-taking and eating disorders, she also racked up gambling debts equal to $6 million in today's dollars. Foreman's combination of exhaustive research and storytelling skill make Georgiana's story at once lurid, sensational and touching. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
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