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Elizabeth and Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses
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Elizabeth and Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses
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by Caroline Chapman and Jane Dormer
Sales Rank : 182393
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Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons December 2002
Language: English
ISBN-10: 047127495X
ISBN-13: 978-0471274957
Product Dimensions:
9.5 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
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.
Product Description
"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 friendsand 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.
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