Elizabeth & Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses [Hardcover]

Caroline Chapman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2003

"A tale well worth telling . . ."
–Antonia Fraser, author of Marie Antoinette: The Journey

"Oh, may I see my beloved friends again, for they are dearer still to me than all else in the world!—She is the kindest, dearest, best most beloved of friends—and he is and must be ever the very soul of my existence. I will cease to live in error with him, tho’ with shame and blushes I confess it, one moment passed in his arms, one instant pressed to his heart, effaces every sorrow, every fear, every thought but him."
–From the journals of Lady Elizabeth Foster as quoted in Elizabeth & Georgiana

She was a lonely young woman of noble birth, condemned to a life of poverty and disgrace. They were one of the wealthiest and most glamorous couples in England. When they appeared on her doorstep one day and whisked her into the dazzling and glittering world at the very pinnacle of the British upper class, how could she not fall in love?

Elizabeth & Georgiana tells the poignant and provocative true story of what may be the most remarkable and enduring love triangle in history. Drawing on hundreds of previously unpublished letters and thousands of journal entries written by Lady Elizabeth Foster, this intriguing journey to the heart of passion will shock you, delight you, and challenge your beliefs about friendship, loyalty, and the true nature of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite having excellent resources (Dormer is a descendant of the Elizabeth in the title and co-edited her many journals with Chapman), gaps in the record often leave Chapman uncertain of the specifics of her story of an unusual 18th-century m‚nage … trois. This is especially frustrating because Lady Elizabeth "Bess" Foster is one of history's more intriguing aristocrats: separated from her husband at 24 and forced to leave their two sons with him, she took up residence with the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, developing a deep friendship with her and carrying on a lifelong affair with him that culminated in marriage years later, after the first Duchess's death. During their affair, Bess bore the Duke two children, but, as was the custom with illegitimate aristocratic offspring, they were raised by foster parents. Amanda Foreman covered much of this territory in her terrific, bestselling Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. As a companion piece, Chapman's look at Bess is occasionally enlightening-she emerges as bright, curious, a dedicated keeper of journals, and an archeologist who helped unearth ancient ruins in Rome when she was nearly 60 years old. But it's never clear whether she was a pathological flirt (with a huge number of admirers) or a misguided woman with limited social options who simply accepted the best situation presented to her: that of best friend and companion to a wealthy woman whose husband had no qualms about fooling around with his houseguest. 16 pages of b&w photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Despite having excellent resource: (Dormer is a descendant of the Elizabeth in the title and co-edited her many journals with Chapman), gaps in the record often leave Chapman uncertain of the specifics of her story of an unusual 18th-century menage a trois. This is especially frustrating because Lady Elizabeth "Bess" Foster is one of history's more intriguing aristocrats: separated from her husband at 24 and forced to leave their two sons with him, she took up residence with the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, developing a deep friendship with her and carrying on a lifelong affair with him that culminated in marriage years later, after the first Duchess's death. During their affair, Bess bore the Duke two children, but, as was the custom with illegitimate aristocratic offspring, they were raised by foster parents. Amanda Foreman covered much of this territory in her terrific, bestselling Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. As a companion piece, Chapman's look at Bess is occasionally enlightening -she emerges as bright, curious, a dedicated keeper of journals, and an archeologist who helped unearth ancient ruins in Rome when she was nearly 60 years old. But it's never clear whether she was a pathological flirt (with a huge number of admirers) or a misguided woman with limited social options who simply accepted the best situation presented to her: that of best friend and companion to a wealthy woman whose husband had no qualms about fooling around with his houseguest. 16 pages of  b&w photos. (Jan.) (Publishers Weekly, December 23, 2002)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047127495X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471274957
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #589,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Biased account, November 29, 2005

By 

Plantagenet Palliser "trumpet man" (Sturbridge, MA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Elizabeth & Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses (Hardcover)

I suppose few people really care now that Lady Elizabeth Foster finally got her man. This book is nonetheless a caution to historians dependent upon family archives for primary source material. Laudatory bias is bound to creep in somewhere. As the previous reviewer noted, Bess does not come across so attractively in other biographies, even those written about Georgiana's niece, Lady Caroline Lamb. The book's positives have already been noted: good descriptions of aristocratic society and travel in the 18th century. The book is not, however, good history or even good biography.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Better View of Bess, September 11, 2003

By 

Andrea L. Kohler (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elizabeth & Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses (Hardcover)

If you haven't read "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire," you're likely to come away from "Elizabeth and Georgiana" with a very positive view of Lady Elizabeth Foster. I had read "Georgiana," and I didn't find Bess all that likable, even after reading Chapman's glowing chapters about her life. I did, however, love this book and found it very interesting and well done. There are unanswered questions, though, about Bess and the Duke's children and what the Duchess knew; but, Chapman does a good job of filling us in on what happened to the main characters after Bess's death. Easy to read, filled with information about the Georgian period (for instance, a good explanation of how people traveled in the time), and not so mired in politics of the day as "Georgiana . . ." is.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eliazbeth & Georgiana, January 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Elizabeth & Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses (Hardcover)

While I had read about the triangular relationship between Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Elizabeth Foster, nick-named Bess, I never realized that Bess had such colorful life. The authors use letters and other historical documents to present Bess in a more positive way, than previously recorded. It is a fascinating biography.