Review - My Lady Scandalous by Jo Manning

In this eminently readable and enjoyable biography, Regency author Jo Manning reveals the life and times of a celebrated courtesan. Born in Scotland some time in the mid-eighteenth century, Grace Dalrymple eventually warmed the beds of both George, Prince of Wales and the Duke of Orléans.

This book is a curious dichotomy - half serious history, based as it is around primary documents and half celebrity bio, with catty asides and lots of gossip. The sidebars enhance the background information, but this historian would also liked to have seen footnotes.

That aside, its easy style and fascinating subject won this reviewer over.

© Teresa Eckford, 2005

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This review first appeared in the November 2005 issue of The Historical Novels Review