The Days I Knew [Paperback]

Lillie Langtry (Author), Tony DiMarco (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2000

THE DAYS I KNEW
The Autobiography of Lillie Langtry
Annotated and Illustrated
Lillie Langtry was the most sought after professional beauty in Victorian London, the favorite of artists, photographers and the literati. She soon caught the eye of the Prince of Wales and became his acknowledged mistress. But, realizing that her relationship with the future king of England could not and would not last forever, she became a stage actress and in no time was the most popular performer in the world. Lillie's friends included prime ministers and presidents, millionaires and magnates, jockeys and journalists. She tells her story with verve and humor in her fascinating autobiography.

"I would rather have discovered Mrs. Langtry than to have discovered America. She is the most beautiful woman in the world."
-OSCAR WILDE

"That woman is a real marvel. And she's so pretty she takes away a man's breath."
-THEODORE ROOSEVELT

"Lillie is the greatest there ever was."
-DIAMOND JIM BRADY

"I dare any man to tell me a better name for a town than Langtry."
-JUDGE ROY BEAN

"Lillie is a superb actress."
-SARAH BERNHARDT

"I resent Mrs. Langtry. She has no right to be intelligent, daring and independent. It is a frightening combination of attributes."
-GEORGE BERARD SHAW

"There shines in Lillie Langtry a purity of spirit. Therein lies the essence of human poetry."
-WALT WHITMAN

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Panoply Publications (September 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886571139
• ISBN-13: 978-1886571136
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lillie Langtry's own story, September 8, 2007

By 

L O'connor (richmond, surrey United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Days I Knew (Paperback)

Lillie Langtry led a long and eventful life and she recounts her story here with great liveliness and humour.

She tells of her Jersey childhood, growing up a tomboy in a large family of brothers who encouraged her to join them in their sometimes hair-raising exploits. then there is the mystery of her marriage to Edward Langtry. Why would a girl who could have married almost anybody have chosen to marry someone so dull? Part of the reason perhaps is that she seems to have been naively unaware of how extremely attractive she was. She married quietly in her travelling dress, because, she says 'I hated the idea of a big wedding and the conventional bridal array' (how I agree with her about that!) She and her new husband spent their honeymoon yachting, which she loved, and then there is the excitment of her introduction into fashionable London society, and the sensation she created there.

She says nothing at all about her affair with the Prince of Wales, he is mentioned only as a friend, you would never know from reading this book that she had been his mistress. However, there is plenty of interest in her accounts of her friendships with Oscar Wilde and Sarah Bernhardt, and of her painting by Millais.

Then there is the shock of finding herself and her husband bankrupt, and her determination to earn some money (it never seems to have occured to Mr Langtry to try and earn any money, he just kept on fishing). Her decision to become an actress paid off, she was a great success and quickly became famous and wealthy.

There is much humour in the book. One of my favourite passages describes her first voyage to America, when the ship she was ttravelling on encountered rough weather, and she found the corridors full of water: 'I waded along the passage ankle-deep in water until I came upon a steward cleaning shoes at the foot of the gangway. On asking him in a terrified whisper, "Is the ship going down?" he replied "D'ye think if the ship was in danger I'd be here brushing boots?". This seemed such a sensible process of reasoning that I returned with complete confidence to my berth.'

In America Mrs Langtry was a great success, and enjoyed the remarkable honour of having a town in Texas named after her, by Roy Bean. He hoped she would be able to visit the town, but she regretfully was unable to manage it on that trip. When she offered to send the town a drinking fountain as a present 'Bean's quick reply was that it would be quite useless, as the only thing the citizens of Langtry did NOT drink was water.' On a later trip she did manage to visit Langtry, and received a very warm welcome from the citizens, who presented her with a brown bear to add to her menagerie of pets. When they tried to get it onto the train it escaped, somewhat to Mrs Langtry's relief.

The exciting episode of the stealing of her valuable collection of jewellery is told in some detail, the jewels were never found but it does not seem to have perturbed Mrs Langtry unduly, she does not seem to have been espeically fond of jewellery. She was fond of clothes though, and recounts the amusement of her guests when soup was spilled over a blue Worth gown she was wearing at dinner, and she went away and returned in an identical pink one.`'Whenever a gown suited me extra well Worth used to say, "'Ave 'alf a dozen in different colours'" she explains.

Later in life, she branched out into race-horse owning, and made a success of that too, possibly due to her early experience. As teenagers she and her brother Reggie had bought a horse for thirty shilling and trained it up to win a race without their father's knowledge. Now she returned to the sport with great success.

At the outbreak of the first world war, she was still travelling back and for to her beloved America frequently, and in 1917 was faced with the problem of how to get home, since the American and English shipping lines were thought unsafe for women: 'and perhaps I am not cast in an heroic mould, for the idea of a prolonged tussle with a submarine, during which I should have to sit, wrapped in my life-saving indiarubber suit, patiently awaiting the result, did not appeal to me.'

I had expected to find this book interesting, but I did not realise how much I would find I liked Lillie Langtry by the end. I am sure that you will like her too.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A woman to love, April 24, 2010

By 

Hunker Down "Avid Reader" (Mendocino, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Days I Knew (Paperback)

Great read. A dyanmic personality of her time. I didn't know what to excpect when I got this book, but alas, Lillie didn't let me down. Confession time: I'm not new to Lillie Langtry's life. I've read all the books about her and everyone was worth the read. I only wish I'd been alive back then to meet her. I'm not sure any of today's actresses are as bright, quick witted, and talented as Lillie was. Great book. Thanks.