Customer Reviews

My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is an interesting book. It isn't a serious biography in the mold we're used to, nor is it a popular history exactly. My Lady Scandalous is a fun read that teaches you much more in retrospect than you think you're getting while you read it. I've read any number of serious and popular histories of the era and still came away with new information.

Grace is a bit of an enigma but the author has a real affection for her that makes up for the scarcity of information she's working with. This book should be approached like a conversation with a good friend on a topic she's very interested in. In the places where you might ask for more information, the author has a side bar ready. In the places where the author is really intrigued by something she can go on a bit long or take the tangent too far, but never in a ponderous or boring way. Every side road leads to interesting sights along the way (did you know condoms were worn two at a time and reused?).

Jo Manning goes out of her way to verify and reverfiy her facts. This diligence allows the reader to feel comfortable when she indulges her personal observations along the way. Conversational is the word I come back to for style. Ostensibly, the book is about a woman ahead of and victimized by her time. I came away thinking not so much about Grace, the alleged subject, as I did about the terror in the French Revolution and how Colonial America didn't seem terribly concerned about it. I found myself contemplating the odd dynamics of the Royal family with it's non-legitimate offspring and the difficulty of tracking bloodlines in a class obsessed with them. Grace came along later in my thoughts, but when she arrived she was more dimensional than I expected.

Give the author some leeway and you'll have a first rate read.

Jo Manning's biography of the celebrated Georgian-era courtesan Grace Elliott is a tour de force, and the research is impeccable. Not only is it the first full-length biography of this fascinating woman - whose life included many adventures and who may have been an English spy in France during the French Revolution - but it is a microcosm of a glittering age. Grace flourished in the circle of the Prince of Wales (later to become King George IV), a profligate group of gallants (skirt-chasers and rakes) known as the Carlton House Set. Grace had affairs with more than one member of this group, including George James, Lord Cholmondeley (later the Marquess of Cholmondeley, whose beautiful Palladian estate, Houghton Hall, is in Norfolk). Grace's daughter Georgiana, whom she claimed was the daughter of the prince, could well have been Cholmondeley's daughter. (The Prince of Wales had a policy of neither denying nor confirming his illegitimate children.) Cholmondeley raised her and saw that she entered into a prestigious marriage with Lord Charles Bentinck, a son of the wealthy Duke of Portland. Georgiana, alas, died young; it was her only child with Lord Charles, Georgina Cavendish-Bentinck, who brought her grandmother's memoir of the French Revolution, Journal of My Life During the French Revolution, to the eminent Victorian publisher Richard Bentley. That memoir, published in 1859, detailed Grace's harrowing experiences during the Reign of Terror. Once Grace's protector, the very wealthy Duc d'Orleans, was executed - he had changed his colors and supported the French Revolution, styling himself Citoyen Egalite, but it didn't help - she herself was thrown in prison. The French director, Eric Rohmer, made a film, L'Anglaise et le Duc/The Lady and the Duke, from this memoir. Grace Elliott's path in life was perhaps not entirely of her own choosing. She became a courtesan when her husband (more than twice her age) divorced her for adultery in 1776. Used to the good life - and life among the rich in 18th century England was very good, indeed - she turned to the oldest profession to support herself in the style to which she'd become accustomed. She didn't have many options; few women in that era had any options at all. The cover of this book is the Gainsborough portrait-bust (1782) of Mrs. Elliott on display at the Frick Collection in New York City. Another portrait - life-size - by Gainsborough (1778) is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a fabulous look at the 18th century as seen through the life of one of its most glamorous women. Hers is a poignant and memorable story. Highly recommended for readers of historical biography and for anyone interested in the 18th century, this beautifully designed book is fleshed out with numerous informative sidebars, word boxes, and hundreds of illustrations. Manning is also the author of several historical romances and other fiction.

Author ofHow to Negotiate Like a Pro: 41 Rules for Resolving Disputes

My Lady Scandalous is a delightful history of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, who was one of the three best-known courtesans of her day. As Manning explains, a courtesan chooses her own patrons often for her own pleasure and in exchange is paid large amounts of money.

There are two ways to read The Lady Scandalous; one is to read straight through and ignore the various asides and notes the author provides. In my opinion, this is a big mistake because much of the joy of the book is learning about the 18th Century. Jo Manning is a retired research librarian and it shows, in a good way.

As a result of reading the notes and asides, I learned a lot about the history of the Elgin Marbles; that cosmetics of the day contained mercury, toxic hallucinogens and lead; that Protestants, including Thomas Jefferson, often sent their children to Convent Schools although he pulled them out when one of his daughters wanted to be a nun; that the first successful hot air balloon flight was made in 1783 in Paris; the differences in the various English titles (duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron,; and how to prepare a body for the guillotine. Manning gives the full flavor of the 18th Century: the arts, the magazines, the architecture, the painters, such as Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, the fashions, the parties, the contraceptives, the status of women, and the legal documrnts like divorces and wills.

In addition, I learned a lot of new words such as "the Harleian Miscellany", "ciasbeo" and "d.s.p." The "Harleian Miscellany" is a collection of rare and entertaining pamphlets, etc. found in the library of Edward Harley and known as The Harleian Miscellany. For example, the Lady Harley had so many lovers that her numerous children were referred to as the "Harleian Miscellany." "Ciasbeo" is an admirer of a married woman. "D.s.p." is from the latin "decessit sine prole" means "died without issue." Manning also gives examples of the many synonyms used to describe courtesans, unmarried women, and prostitutes.

This story would never have been told if Jo Manning had not seen the movie, The Lady and the Duke, the French film directed by Eric Rohmer, who got the idea for the film after reading a digest of the memoirs of Grace Elliott, Journal of My Life During the French Revolution.

This Journal was published through the efforts of Grace's granddaughter, Georgina. The story intrigued Manning and she did her extensive research. As a result, she was also able to include many prints, photographs and drawings which really enhance the book.

Grace's daughter, Georgiana Augusta Frederica Elliott, may have been fathered by the Prince of Wales, later to become King George IV. It was estimated that King George III had at least 56 illegitimate grandchildren, who were called "children of the mist." If Grace had been the legal wife of George, Prince of Wales, when she was born, she might even have had a chance to become Queen of England.

Manning makes many parallels between the 18th Century and the 20th Century Royalty, including the marraige of Di and Prince Charles, with Camilla in the wings. Princess Di even had a similar physique to Grace, tall, leggy and athletic.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the 18th Century. It is a pure delight!

My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan by Jo Manning is a delightful work, decidedly unstuffy but very well-researched. For anyone interested in late 18th C. and Regency era England, it is a MUST.

The story of Grace Dalrymple Elliott is fascinating and the sidebars on many subjects are always stimulating. Manning should be commended for her organizational skills and by her measured yet lively style. Highly recommended! Victoria Hinshaw

MLS is a wonderfully sympathetic biography of one of the Regency eras most intriguing courteseans. Grace knew everyone who mattered and everyone "knew" Grace. Or did they? Jo Mannings' detailed and painstaking research uncovers many facts about Grace, members of the Regency Ton and the French Revoluton and presents them in an entertaining and readable format. MLS is simply crammed with period details not readily found in other reference books on the period. MLS sparkles with wit and much humour for period afficiandos "in the know" regarding the period and its players. Truly a must have for the shelves of every reader, writer and fan of the Regency era.

Kristine Hughes, author of Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England.

I have to agree with the few reviewers who found this book too gossipy and unfocused. I have nothing against a chatty writing style, but this book takes it too far. After reading the first chapter, I found myself wondering what the heck it had to do with the subject of Grace Dalrymple. The author meanders away on side tangents to such an extent that there's really very little of Grace present in the book (and too much talk of other famous women like Cleopatra and Princess Di). I understand the limited research material on Grace, but that's a rather poor excuse. Great biographies have been written on less than well documented subjects before, but this is not one of them.

As someone who reads extensively on the topic of late Georgian England, I found this warm-hearted biography to be a real treat. Publications on shady ladies seem be to plentiful lately, but this book provides one of the best examinations I've ever encountered of the sexual mores and societal realities for women of this period. This would be a great gift selection for those interested in what makes the Regency era so fascinating.

It's not a serious biography, so don't read it for that. It is an interesting story about one of the more famed courtseans of the Georgian period. But I am having trouble tolerating the author, who injects herself constantly into the story with what she must think are witty comments and asides. And if you are turned off by exclamation points, as I am, she will annoy you even more.

All biographies tend to slant or favor the one choronicled to some extent, but this one is kind of over the top. The author exhibits a hatred for Grace's husband as though she knew him personally and he had wronged her, skirting the fact that he divorced her for cheating. And she constantly goes on about what an old man he is, when in fact he was in his thirties, a common age to take a teenage bride in those days.

If you can ignore the author and just absorb the story and anecdotes, it isn't a bad read. Maybe some readers like the author's opinion on every little thing, but not me...

This is a thoroughly well-researched and well-written biography of a fascinating personality who lived at one of the most interesting historical periods: England and France during the time of the American and French Revolutions. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves biographies or has a fascination with this period of history.

This combination biography and autobiography enables Georgian and Regency readers especially of romance to gain deep insight into an interesting era of manners that today seem contradictory yet perfectly acceptable. Fans of the period will see the era through the eyes of one of the more renowned courtesans Grace Dalrymple Elliot, whose memoir was filmed by Eric Roemer The Lady and the Duke). Her insight into royalty and other members of the aristocracy is enhanced by sidebars from noted Regency author Jo Manning. Easy to read with its pick up and put down style and quite entertaining, MY LADY SCANDALOUS will elate the sub-genre audience by living up to its subtitleand providing a deep look at the outrageous life of a royal courtesan during a time of decadence and hedonism. This excellent biography is worth the time needed by the audience to absorb the details as there is so much here that bears rereading and applies so brilliantly to the novels set in this period.

Harriet Klausner