Product Description

A love story. A gamble. A battle. Let the games begin. It's an era of looming war, and the erosion of freedom in the name of national security. A time of high art and big business, trashy spectacles and financial disasters. Celebrities are hounded by journalists, who serve up private passions alongside public crises. Marriages stretch or break, and so do friendships; political liaisons prove as dangerous as erotic ones. In Parliament, on stage, in the bedroom, at the race track, round the dinner table, old loyalties are wrenched by the winds of change. The World - as elite calls itself - is fighting to survive these chaotic times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #218298 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

Review
'A born writer' New York Times Book Review '... another bright, bruising slice of eighteenth-century life in London ... Why should Michel Faber hog the glory?' Elle 'Donoghue's latest book pulsates with the vibrancy of London in an era that couldn't be more extravagant. While Mad King George was teetering on the throne, the grotesquely privileged carried on a gaudy social whirl' Time Out

Sunday Telegraph
‘Emma Donoghue is a scrupulous researcher with a knack for unearthing telling details and bringing them to life’

Kirkus Review
'...a full-bodied tale that satisfies the head and the heart'

Customer Reviews

A rediscovery of the 18th-century
I have to admit that, with the exception of joyfully breezing through Jane Austen, I generally find 18th-century novels hardgoing. However, Emma Donoghue has succeeded in writing a convincing 18th-century novel while maintaining a deftness of touch to engage the 21st-century reader.

While by no means simple, the plot narrative is striking in its clarity to ensure that a deep understanding of 18th-century politics is not a pre-requisite. It educates and informs without obstructing the story, and I felt more than a little smug after reading it that I could excuse the hours I spent immersed in the book has left me with an improved education.

Donoghue should be particularly congratulated also for her excellence in drawing the frisson between Derby and Eliza, especially in the opening chapters. Even in the comparatively loose society we inhabit today, one is all more than aware of the awkwardness that is caused by a mis-judged move for romance, especially in a group of mutual friends and acquaintances. The scenes such as Mrs. Dramer's dinner following a first move by Derby felt deliciously voyeuristic as I could feel and see the atmosphere caused by his discomfort.

The characterisation is underpinned by a cynical sense of humour about class and appearances that are as true today as they were 200+ years ago. Donoghue at times seems to judge her characters from 21st-century standards of what is hypocrisy and hence the line between pastiche and parody sometimes appears to come into view. Regardless of this, it is the best book I have read so far in 2007 out of a total of two and will remain at the top of my favourites list for some time.

Breathtaking
This is the first book I've read by Emma( a huge crime I know) but I'm completely amazed at how brilliant it was and how she ever could have escaped my attention. Being a huge fan of Sarah Waters someone suggested to me that I should give Emma's books a try and I'm so glad I did.I can honestly say I loved everything about this novel-the charactyers were rich and complex, the setting was fabulous and the intricate details that went into, for example, Anne Damer's profession were beautifully done.

10 out of 10 and even that doesn't do her justice.

Living in interesting times
There's a missing period of English history for those of us who studied in English schools; we learned lots about Nazi Germany and the Tudors, but even when reading Jane Austen, few of us were told exactly why all those soldiers were all over the country attending balls and breaking hearts. The late 18th century was a fascinating, turbulent, idealistic time; the recent BBC series calling it 'The Century that Made us' got it about right with Enlightenment ideas resonating down to today. Emma Donoghue's novel captures the zeitgeist brilliantly, uncovering 'the World' for us through the eyes of three real people, the sculptor Anne Damer, Lord Grey and the actress Eliza Farren. You'll learn about Whig politics, the French Revolution, 18th century theatre in London and much more. You may, like me, also find yourself deeply involved in and moved by the lives of these three and others in the book. A particular triumph is her characterisation of the novelist & belles-lettres writer Horace Walpole. If this is not yet set for the BBC's costume drama department, it should be snapped up at once!

This book only fails to get five stars because my benchmark for historical fiction will always be Jeanette Winterson and/or Dorothy Dunnett....