The Life and Times of Mary, Dowager Duchess of Sutherland: Power Play (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781527505506)

This definitive biography depicts one Victorian womanâ (TM)s struggle to stay afloat in a rising tide of prurient scandalmongering and snobbery. Could it be that this womanâ (TM)s character and circumstances informed Oscar Wildeâ (TM)s social comedies? She was the daughter of a leading Conservative Oxford don, vilified as an arrogant fortune-hunter. Her liaison dangereuse with a Duke resulted in ostracism by Queen Victoriaâ (TM)s cronies, as well as protracted, widely publicised legal disputes with his family. One battle put her in Holloway Gaol for six weeks. Her supporters, over time, included Disraeli, the Khedival family of Egypt, the de Lesseps, and Sir Albert Kaye Rollit (a promoter of womenâ (TM)s suffrage, later her third husband). Her life and that of her family drew in British and European colonialism, and even Reilly, the â oeAce of Spies⠝.

Various previously untapped letters, diaries and journals allow the reader to navigate through the sensationalist fog of the primarily Liberal press of her time. The book will appeal to anyone interested in Victorian and journalism history, and gender and celebrity studies.

Author: Catherine Layton
ISBN-10: 1527505502
ISBN-13: 9781527505506
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Language: English
Published: 01/17/2018
Pages: 447
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.70w x 1.20d