Faithful Handmaid [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Hester Davenport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2000

Fanny Burney was a pioneering novelist and a valuable social commentator. Drawing on her diaries and letters, this book is a unique insight into the Court of King George III.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hester Davenport is a graduate of London University, and has an MA in Victorian Poetry --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing; illustrated edition edition (June 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750918810
• ISBN-13: 978-0750918817
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,518,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chronicle of Servitude, January 27, 2001

By 

Joseph A. Grau (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faithful Handmaid (Hardcover)

An eminently readable, thoroughly researched recounting of Fanny Burney's years as Second Keeper of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, consort of George III of England. Davenport carefully explores Burney's relationships with others at the court, most particularly her dealings with Colonel Stephen Digby. Of interest to Burney scholars for its interesting minor insights and scraps of information and to general readers for its fascinating portrayal of daily life at the royal court.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An observation of a Royal court and family in eighteenth century England, February 5, 2006

By 

Rebecca Huston "telynor" (On the Banks of the Hudson) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Faithful Handmaid: Fanny Burney at the Court of King George III (Paperback)

Before there was Jane Austen taking on the task of writing about English society, there was a woman a generation before who wrote about young women and their troubles in making just the right match. Author Hester Davenport takes a look at the royal households of George III and Queen Charlotte through the eyes of one of England's first popular novelists.

Fanny Burney turned to writing as a means of making a living. Her first novel, Evelina, was published anonymously to great acclaim, and Burney found herself thrust into the limelight -- a role that she didn't necessarily seek, or want. Hester Davenport's style is light enough to keep this one from completely bogging down into details. I had only heard of Fanny Burney as an English woman writer who was before Jane Austen's time, but that was all. Now after reading this, I am interested enough to track down more of her work -- she would only write a few novels, Evelina, Cecilia, Camilla, and The Wanderer , all of which took a look at young women in high society and the choices they faced, and her copious notes, journals and letters.

For anyone who is interested in the life of a woman writer, the late eighteenth century, or the nature of the writer's life, this is a very entertaining read. I found the writing not at all ponderous, with plenty of notes and details, and a sympathy for the subject that made her plight of struggling for time to write, her own duties, and the hassles of courtship to make the story very real. While this is not a complete biography of Burney's life -- nearly nothing is given of her marriage -- the details of a royal household from the inside out -- is what makes this book so interesting. Burney herself is revealed as a shy, rather quiet woman, but her journals show that she was an acerbic, knowledgeable observer of the world around her.