Adam Sisman
More Than Just A Pair Of Legs
Perdita: The Life of Mary Robertson
By Paula Byrne
HarperCollins 477pp £20
SHE WAS, MANY believed, the most beautiful woman in England. And one of the most fascinating. At her peak, in the 1 780s, all London was at her feet; after her death in 1800, she would be described as 'the most interesting woman of her age '.
Mary Darby was born in Bristol in 1 758 - or possibly a few years earlier; like many actresses, she was fuzzy about her age . Her father was a merchant, who spent much o f his time abroad. The combination of an absent father and an indulgent mother proved
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
London's East End was long synonymous with poverty and sweatshops, while its West End was associated with glamour and high society. But when it came to the fashion industry, were the differences really so profound?
Sharman Kadish - Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers
Sharman Kadish: Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers - Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style; Fashion City: ...
literaryreview.co.uk
In 1982, Donald Rumsfeld presented Saddam Hussein with a pair of golden spurs. Two decades later he was dropping bunker-busting bombs on his palaces.
Where did the US-Iraqi relationship go wrong?
Rory Mccarthy - The Case of the Vanishing Missiles
Rory Mccarthy: The Case of the Vanishing Missiles - The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the United States and the ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Barbara Comyns was a dog breeder, a house painter, a piano restorer, a landlady... And a novelist.
@nclarke14 on the lengths 20th-century women writers had to go to make ends meet:
Norma Clarke - Her Family & Other Animals
Norma Clarke: Her Family & Other Animals - Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence by Avril Horner
literaryreview.co.uk