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My Lady Scandalous
My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dal | Jo Manning
2 posts | 8 to read
A wicked turnabout on Jane Austen's oft-quoted adage -- "a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" -- is My Lady Scandalous, a richly raucous history that traverses the notoriously licentious British Regency era in the company of its most celebrated courtesan. Following a simple Edinburgh girlhood, Grace Dalrymple came of age in the sin city of London, where wealthy men ruled society and women had everything to lose, starting with their reputations. As an impressionable bride of seventeen who married a man more than twice her age, Grace's remarkable beauty (likened by journalists to "a May morning") soon attracted the attentions of other men. A disastrous liaison with a consummate rake not only branded Grace as a demi-rep -- a woman with half a reputation -- but the scandal provoked Dr. John Eliot, her philandering husband, to pursue a divorce. Grace became mistress of the most infamous peer in England, George James, Lord Cholmondeley, whose "secret perfections" were reputed to inspire "female enthusiasm." Cholmondeley commemorated the relationship by commissioning two works from eminent portraitist Thomas Gainsborough, first in 1778 and later in 1782, the same year Grace gave birth to a daughter, Georgiana (who may, in fact, have been the child of the Prince of Wales). Had Grace been an aristocrat, she and Cholmondeley might have had a future together, but it was not to be. The tabloids broke the news: "Miss Dalrymple has embarked for France, and it is said parted with her noble gallant." Grace was soon to find a new protector in that nation's richest man, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans. Though Grace was ensconced as "one of the most brilliant and popular among the fashionable 'impures,' " her liaison with the duke turned perilous when Orleans fell to the Revolution's guillotine, just as she narrowly escaped with her life. "People die, but love may not," declares author Jo Manning of her subject's romantic and historic misadventures. A connoisseur of the times, Manning ably demonstrates -- through contemporary newspapers, magazines, prints, and portraits as well as Grace's posthumously published journal -- how life in George III's England and Marie Antoinette's France can seem strangely familiar, especially when history turns to affairs of the heart.
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blurb
LeahBergen
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This is a marvellously illustrated and “richly raucous” biography of Regency-era courtesan, Grace Dalrymple.

She was mistress to Lord Cholmondeley, the most infamous peer of the time whose “secret perfections” were reputed to inspire “female enthusiasm”. 😂😂

#ScandalousSaturday
#MagicalMarch

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Hmmmmm 🤔🤔 Sounds intriguing!! 7y
JaclynW Very scandalous! 😂 7y
Tamra Illustrated? 🙀😹 7y
See All 17 Comments
LeahBergen @Tamra Sadly, there is no illustration of his “secret perfection”. 😂😂 7y
emilyhaldi Sounds fascinating! 7y
Reviewsbylola You had me at illustrated! And what a gorgeous cover! 7y
vkois88 Ooooh this looks interesting! 7y
batsy Talk of "secret perfections" is igniting my enthusiasm for this book ?? 7y
erzascarletbookgasm You seem to have lots of intriguingly scandalous courtesan books! 😊 7y
LeahBergen @batsy 😆😆 7y
LeahBergen @erzascarletbookgasm Hmm. I do! 😆 7y
rubyslippersreads @erzascarletbookgasm I bet @LeahBergen has a special shelf just for scandalous courtesan books. 😂 7y
LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads Well, it‘s only HALF a shelf and it includes mistresses. 😂😂 7y
Centique “Secret perfections?” Where do I sign up? 😂😂😂 7y
LeahBergen @Centique Right? 😂 7y
124 likes7 stack adds17 comments
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candyflossramparts
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#makeabookface was much more difficult than I had anticipated! #riotgrams