Charlotte: Being a True Account of an Actress's Flamboyant Adventures in Eighteenth-Century London's Wild and Wicked Theatrical W (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780312425760)

Charlotte Charke's father, Colley Cibber, was one of the eighteenth-century's great actor/playwrights--and it was thought that the comedically gifted young Charlotte would follow in his footsteps at the legendary Drury Lane. However, Charlotte's habit of wearing men's clothes off stage as well as on, proved an obstacle to her career.

Kathryn Shevelow re-creates Charlotte's downfall from the heights of London's theatrical world to its lascivious lows (the domain of fire-eaters, puppeteers, wastrels, gender-bending cross-dressers, wenches, and scandalous sorts of every variety) and her comeback as the author of one of the first autobiographies ever written by a woman. Beyond the appealingly unorthodox Charlotte, Shevelow masterfully recalls for us a historical era of extraordinary stylishness, artifice, character, interest, and intrigue.

Author: Kathryn Shevelow
ISBN-10: 0312425767
ISBN-13: 9780312425760
Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
Language: English
Published: 02/01/2006
Pages: 448
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 1.30d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 04/09/2006 pg. 32