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The Lady In Red: An Eighteenth-Century Tale Of Sex, Scandal, And Divorce (2009)

by Hallie Rubenhold(Favorite Author)

3.61 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0312359942 (ISBN13: 9780312359942)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

St. Martin's Press

review 1: An exquisitely written portrait of a group of fascinating characters in this most fascinating period of history, plus the ideals and morals of a time quite unfamiliar to ours and quite contradictory to how we behave in modern day, striking not only parallels but raising excellent questions and points about our own accepted form of society. Hallie weaves the story of the Worsley's through excellent and intense research really getting into the minds of each person and creating this wonderful style that's so accessible and reads like you are sitting pleasurably in front of the TV and she's telling all about it like your best friend would. This makes 'Lady Worsley's Whim' both highly recommended and marketable. It's a great achievement had had me constantly hooked and enthrall... moreed at the scandalous and salacious behaviour of those naughty, ever so naughty Georgian folk, who never seem to make me yearn for a more understanding and less pervasive and restricted social etiquette.
review 2: Loved it! Ever since I saw Reynold’s amazing portrait of Lady Worsley at Harewood House in Yorkshire and got fed a few tales about her from the room guide, I’ve been waiting for this story to be told. Seymour Dorothy Fleming was an heiress in Georgian England who made a promising marriage to Richard Worsley at an early age. Quickly they tired of one another and (with her husband's encouragement) Seymour set off on a series of affairs with various gentlemen of the ton, one of whom she eloped with. The affair ended in a very public divorce (of body) and suit for criminal conversion - every fact of which was detailed in the court transcripts which were read by all. What happened after that is incredibly tragic to read. I mean we all know women weren’t equal at this time but seeing it illustrated with an actual woman’s experience really brings it to life. While Worsley was able to galavant around Europe and see the sights of Italy, Seymour was pretty much ostracized from society and basically forced to prostitute herself from one man to the next over the subsequent years in order to make ends meet. Even her own mother and sister (who had good positions in society) weren't able to receive her (or chose to retain their positions by not receiving her and they weren’t considered cruel for doing so). Yes Seymour was an heiress but her *husband* kept her fortune until he died as he was still its trustee since a divorce of body was basically only a legal separation. Worsley specifically chose this type of divorce rather than a full on Parliamentary divorce to make her life miserable. And he did. Really fascinating read. Absolutely keeping it. less

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