Lady Caroline Lamb
A Free Spirit
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
From the outset, Caroline Lamb had a rebellious nature. From childhood she grew increasingly troublesome, experimenting with sedatives like laudanum, and she had a special governess to control her. She also had a merciless wit and talent for mimicry. She spoke French and German fluently, knew Greek and Latin, and sketched impressive portraits. As the niece of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, she was already well connected, and her courtly skills resulted in her marriage to the Hon. William Lamb (later Lord Melbourne) at the age on nineteen. For a few years they enjoyed a happy marriage, despite Lamb's siblings and mother-in-law detesting her and referring to her as 'the little beast'.
In 1812 Caroline embarked on a well-publicised affair with the poet Lord Byron - he was 24, she 26. Her phrase 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' became his lasting epitaph. When he broke things off, Caroline made increasingly public attempts to reunite. Her obsession came to define much of her later life, as well as influencing her own writing - most notably the Gothic novel Glenarvon - and Byron's.
Antonia Fraser's vividly compelling biography animates the life of 'a free spirit' who was far more than mad, bad and dangerous to know.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Fraser (The Case of the Married Woman) seeks in this concise and revealing biography to bring Anglo-Irish writer and socialite Caroline Lamb née Ponsonby (1785–1828) out of the shadows cast by her husband, William Lamb, who served as prime minister after her death, and her lover, the poet Lord Byron. "Elfin" and fond of dressing as a pageboy, Caroline was born into an aristocratic family and exhibited "a certain tempestuous quality" from a young age. Married at 19, she was by all accounts "enchanted" with Lamb, and even sneaked into the House of Commons dressed as a man to hear him deliver his first speech. But their domestic life was complicated by the health struggles and learning difficulties of their son, Augustus. In 1812, Caroline embarked on a tumultuous and very public affair with Lord Byron, many details of which made their way into her titillating debut novel, Glenarvon. Though Caroline remains somewhat of an enigma, Fraser shines a well-deserved spotlight on her literary ambitions and achievements and offers valuable insights on the political and religious rivalries of the era and the fraught question of Irish independence. It's a worthwhile portrait of a woman who defied convention.
