The Duchess Countess

‘What a superb, gripping, decadent, colourful biography that brings an extraordinary woman and a whole world blazingly to life. Filled new research, written so elegantly with empathy, passion and cool analysis, The Duchess Countess is an unforgettable, unputdownable read that seems both modern and historical, utterly relevant today - featuring a cast of characters from Marie Antoinette to Catherine the Great, but also the life of a woman who is both adventuress and victim, who achieved vast wealth and great notoriety, becoming one of Europe's most famous women and the star of the most scandalous court case of the century.’

‘Although this book is a beautifully written and deeply researched life of one of the most remarkable women of the eighteenth century, it is also a scintillating portrait of an age. Since Elizabeth Chudleigh knew so many of Europe’s most talented, fascinating and important people – as well as its most dissipated rakes – the book is populated by as wide a galere of personalities as one is ever likely to meet in a biography. The author has ransacked every archive and visited every place connected with her subject from London to St Petersburg, and the result is the first ever fair-minded estimation of one of the great adventuresses of history. Funny, intelligent, witty, profound and on occasion moving, this book sets a new standard for eighteenth-century biography writing.’

‘Fascinating. Magnificent. Sensitively told. Complex, capricious, beautiful and boldly ambitious, Elizabeth Chudleigh was also one of the most reviled women in Georgian England. In resurrecting her tale, Catherine Ostler allows the Duchess of Kingston to emerge from the prejudices of the past like a resplendent phoenix.’ 

‘This is a scintillating story superbly told by Catherine Ostler... She has a remarkable ability to demonstrate her deep knowledge of the period without being boring or a show-off. She packs every paragraph with eye-opening detail, making you feel as though you’re living in the 18th century, but never veers from the central story of a woman trying to hold herself together in that vicious society while the men did as they pleased.’

'A rollicking read...[Ostler] tells Elizabeth's story with admirable style and gusto, and clearly finds her heroine irresistible. A series of gloriously implausible soap-opera twists... anticipating Thackeray's Becky Sharp... All this would be entertaining enough, but the real drama was yet to come. No wonder the scandal sheets loved it.'

‘Before there was Becky Sharp, there was Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston and the greatest social grifter of them all. She lives once again, thanks to Catherine Ostler's captivating biography. Definitely dangerous to know, pretty bad and quite possibly mad, there's no better fun to be had than a ringside seat at the tragi-comic circus that was her life.’

'In this skilful and highly entertaining biography, Ostler theorises that the uninhibited Chudleigh was a bit unhinged. The real strength of the book is the author’s painstaking effort to corral all the facts in recounting a life that even her contemporaries found wildly improbable. Bridgerton fans take note: for sheer incident and drama, Chudleigh’s story rivals any episode of the popular Regency-era Netflix series. And it’s all true.'

'Excellent... Ostler has undertaken impressive international archival research and always follows the money meticulously. The book’s spritely, wry tone is a pleasure to read throughout. By the end, however, I was ... in awe of Catherine Ostler’s thoughtful portraiture, both of Elizabeth Chudleigh and her century.'

‘A masterclass in biography. Ostler brings her protagonist to life with dazzling prose, meticulous research and unique human sensibility. An immersive, glamorous odyssey stretching from rural England to the glittering palaces of St Petersburg, The Duchess Countess is a technicolour portrait of one of history’s most dynamic, but least understood heroines. An instant classic.’

'Well written and researched...it is a gripping tale'

'Chudleigh’s life is like the longest and most jaw-dropping society story you’ve ever read. Ostler paints a glittering picture of London in the reign of George II...She also provides a close-up of what she calls “the psychodrama of the Hanoverian succession”. It’s all terrifically entertaining: if you liked Bridgerton, you’ll love this. The story romps along with great style and gusto, and her research is impeccable.'

'Catherine Ostler draws a vivid portrait of this remarkable woman. Ms Ostler has written a rich and compelling book, the fruit of deep and assiduous research.'

'In this sparkling gallivant through the 18th century, Catherine Ostler has done justice to a remarkable life... The real delight is the intimate detail of the royal court. The book also does an excellent job of shining a light on issues with thought-provoking modern resonance. Elizabeth is not flawless...[but] she could be just the heroine we need right now.'

Fans of Bridgerton (so, basically, everyone) will adore former Tatler editor Catherine Ostler’s deliciously evocative biography of Georgian anti-heroine Elizabeth Chudleigh, whose real-life antics make the Ton seem positively tame by comparison. 

'Makes for thrilling reading' 

'In this brisk retelling Catherine Ostler does a good job of making us see how this ambitious army officer’s daughter was doing nothing more wicked than making the best of an indifferent hand of cards. For her latest biographer there is something quite admirable about the Duchess Countess, a girl who battled the law of the land, not to mention a good chunk of Britain’s aristocracy, in order to become her own woman.'

'Ostler is very good at conjuring up the 18th century "in all its elegance and acidity".'

'Ostler breathes new life into a fabulous subject by taking the reader on a social tour that follows the irrepressible Elizabeth from the tough and insouciantly decadent world through which she frolicked as a Hanoverian belle to the court of Catherine the Great. The centrepiece of Ostler’s fascinating book – and of Elizabeth’s life – is the sensational trial...for bigamy. Ostler has written as juicily readable a book as Amanda Foreman’s celebrated life of another Georgian beauty, the Duchess of Devonshire.'

'This is a brilliant biography that gives a stunning portrait of the age in all its glory and decadence, underpinned by the ever-present fear of losing face or fortune. Elizabeth comes across as a woman who snubbed the dictates of authority, and refused to be cowed by the paparazzi of her day. Very highly recommended.'

'Ostler writes beautifully of a Hanoverian life that was emblematic of much more than scandal. Elizabeth not only helped to inspire Thackeray’s Becky Sharp but scorched her way through a patriarchal society without compromise. Highly recommended.'

'A dazzling portrait of a woman and an age - I was gripped from start to finish.'

'A witty and engaging life of Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston and Countess of Bristol, who was tried for bigamy in 1776, which for all her subject’s scandal-ridden life is ultimately sympathetic.' 

'A lively portrait of the resilient Elizabeth Chudleigh (b. 1721), who was found guilty of bigamy and then hurtled off to St Petersburg to become best friends with Catherine the Great.'

'The eye-popping story of Elizabeth Chudleigh, inspiration for Vanity Fair's Becky Sharp, the racy society beauty who in 1776 was convicted of bigamy, and ended up running a vodka distillery in Estonia.'

'There is a great line in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: “If scandal is to your taste, Miss Mackay, I shall give you a feast!” Elizabeth Chudleigh, the subject of The Duchess Countess gave the British nation a feast in 1776 when she was put on trial for bigamy. Catherine Ostler tells the life of this unembarrassable Georgian social climber with verve. She was Becky Sharp meets Liz Hurley - George II fell in love with her when she wore a see-through dress to a ball - with a dash of Gwyneth Paltrow.'

'Welcome to this riveting story of racy society beauty and Georgian bigamist Elizabeth Chudleigh, who ended up running a vodka distillery in Estonia. She was a woman ahead of her time, someone who rose above her reversals of fortune. Her story shows the strength of the human will, and is an inspiration for anyone facing their own struggles, be they psychological or physical.'

'Begging for a Netflix adaptation, with shades of Jane Austen, Bridgerton and a dash of The Scarlet Letter. Ostler’s book...is fittingly bubbly for the 'ton', or fashionable set.'