Scandal & seduction
Few women navigated the Georgian court with the elan of Elizabeth Chudleigh – and perhaps none courted quite so much controversy. She played many roles: military orphan, much-admired beauty, scandalously under-dressed party guest and, most famously, bigamist. Papering over one youthful marriage before embarking on another at 48, she was ennobled as either Countess of Bristol or Duchess of Kingston, depending on which is considered legal.
In this sparkling gallivant through the 18th century, Catherine Ostler has done justice to a remarkable life. The information-drenched historical backdrop – of political schemes, distant wars and labyrinthine social networks – is perhaps not for the faint-hearted. On one hand, it provides entertaining anecdotes and endless lines of enquiry for the curious mind; on the other, it sometimes means Elizabeth shimmers with uncharacteristic subtlety centre-stage.
The real delight is in the intimate detail of the court. Ostler has her finger firmly on the pulse of the Georgian aristocracy, and has bracingly revived its extravagance and absurdity. She recounts practical jokes, illicit crushes, toothache cures involving a shotgun, and frivolous reconstructions of military conflicts with sugar and candied fruits. (Although the interesting suggestion, based on her impulsivity and spending, that Elizabeth lived with borderline personality disorder is perhaps a little weakened by this catalogue of excess.) The book also does an excellent job of shining a light on issues with thoughtprovoking modern relevance, highlighting the troubling power of the press and the glaring double standards that ground women to a halt while barely slowing down their brothers.
Like all the best heroines, 'lizabeth is not flawless – by the standards of her time or our own. But in her ingenuity, her irrepressible spirit and what Ostler calls her “refusal to accept the prescribed limitations of female existence”, she could be just the heroine we need right now.