Book Review: Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman

 

Goodreads Summary: The winner of Britain's prestigious Whitbread Prize and a bestseller there for months, this wonderfully readable biography offers a rich, rollicking picture of late-eighteenth-century British aristocracy and the intimate story of a woman who for a time was its undisputed leader.
Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day. In 1774, at the age of seventeen, Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats, the Duke of Devonshire. Launched into a world of wealth and power, she quickly became the queen of fashionable society, adored by the Prince of Wales, a dear friend of Marie-Antoinette, and leader of the most important salon of her time. Not content with the role of society hostess, she used her connections to enter politics, eventually becoming more influential than most of the men who held office.

Her good works and social exploits made her loved by the multitudes, but Georgiana's public success, like Diana's, concealed a personal life that was fraught with suffering. The Duke of Devonshire was unimpressed by his wife's legendary charms, preferring instead those of her closest friend, a woman with whom Georgiana herself was rumored to be on intimate terms. For over twenty years, the three lived together in a jealous and uneasy ménage à trois, during which time both women bore the Duke's children—as well as those of other men.

Foreman's descriptions of Georgiana's uncontrollable gambling, all-night drinking, drug-taking, and love affairs with the leading politicians of the day give us fascinating insight into the lives of the British aristocracy in the era of the madness of King George III, the American and French revolutions, and the defeat of Napoleon.

A gifted young historian whom critics are already likening to Antonia Fraser, Amanda Foreman draws on a wealth of fresh research and writes colorfully and penetratingly about the fascinating Georgiana, whose struggle against her own weaknesses, whose great beauty and flamboyance, and whose determination to play a part in the affairs of the world make her a vibrant, astonishingly contemporary figure.

Goodreads Rating: 3.72 stars with over 21,000 ratings

Genre Listing: History, Nonfiction, Biography

Goodreads Challenge: 41/50 I'm so close to my goal!

2021 Reading Challenge: #53 Read a book that was published when you were eleven (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, readers! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a happy holiday. I am a pretty big fan of Holidays that give me the day off and are dedicated to eating copious amounts of food.  We're not doing anything significant this year, so I'm just making a roast in a crockpot. There is going to be lots of paper writing in my household. On the bright side, 40 days and I will be done with grad school. I am so excited. I'm going to tell myself I will read so many books and work on the books I'm writing. In reality, I'll probably be sitting on my couch trying to catch Pokemon.

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman is one of the three books I've been reading for a while. This is the first biography I've read in years, possibly ever. I like history, but I'd prefer to read about it as a novel. It's much more entertaining that way (usually.) Anyway, I had to do a search for books that were published when I was eleven. This book was initially published in 1998, and since The Duchess is one of my favorite movies, I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm genuinely not sure how to rate this book. I typically rate books on my level of enjoyment. I can't really say I was entertained by this. I was informed and learned a lot, but entertained? Not really. I can't even really talk about the character development or the plot. So I'm at a loss here. It was informative and well written, so I guess I'll just discuss things I learned.

1.) I had no idea that Georgiana was distantly related to Princess Diana. The maiden name of Spencer definitely didn't tip me off, and given that the biography focuses on Georgiana's life, it's not brought up.

2.) Everyone in the rich/royal circle in the 1700s had affairs with everyone else. I lost track of who was having an affair with who. A couple of women seemed like they were everyone's mistress at some point, Bess included. 

3.) The London social circles were actually called "The Ton," and this was not just some random thing made up in the Bridgerton series.  

4.) The Duchess of Devonshire was way advanced for her time. I don't know that the movie really did her political career justice. She was a lot more prominent and influential than I thought.

5.) I think that there's a case to be made that The Duke, The Duchess, and Bess might have been Polyamorous to some extent. It's not really stated as such, and many pieces of correspondence either didn't survive or were censored. This is a total assumption on my part; it would just kind of make sense the way they conversed with one another and their living situation. If that is the case, I think it's interesting because it's a domestic situation that's not widely discussed, especially for the timeframe. I also thought it was interesting that all of their children blended into a family (sort of) after the death of all three parents. 

6.) Bess seems like she was an awful person. Like I never could tell if she genuinely cared about either The Duke or The Duchess or if she was just pulling a long con to advance her place in society/secure her future. I have to assume after that long of being at their side, she did care, but the actions displayed in the correspondence didn't necessarily show that. 

I got sidetracked by looking at the available dogs to adopt in local shelters. There's probably more I learned, but I'm drawing a blank. All I've been telling my husband that I want is a dog or to be let loose in a bookstore for the holidays. Maybe some coffee. I have simple tastes. 

As I said earlier, I don't really know how to rate this, so I'm giving it a 3. I didn't hate it. I thought it was well written, and I learned from it. But it's a biography, and my entertainment scale doesn't really work for this. Do I want to know more about Georgiana? Yes. Do I want to do it by reading another Biography? Gods no.