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I think my fondness for the 18th century is no secret to any of my regular readers. ;-) So you may imagine my surprise and delight upon discovering a copy of Amanda Foreman’s Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire biography at a used bookstore entirely by accident! Having already seen the movie The Duchess, which was inspired by this biography, previously read about the author during production of said film, and recalling recommendations of a trusted friend, I went ahead and bought the book even though I’m not generally one to tackle biographies. (I know, I know; that’s a fault on my part which I’m working at remedying!) Considering my love of history, this is somewhat strange, but most of the biographies (or possibly the authors?) I’ve encountered previously have been dull, dry, and even pretentious, but thankfully Amanda Foreman and her work both proved to be quite the opposite.

As this is only my first real foray into studying the life of Georgiana Cavendish, famous 18th century socialite, aristocrat, figure of fashion and leader of the ton, authoress, political heavyweight and Whig doyenne, I am by no means the best person to judge Foreman’s adherence to historical truths, but since this is one of my very favourite periods in history (if not the favourite, hee hee), I’m already somewhat familiar with the era and therefore (hopefully!), not entirely ignorant. ;-)

( Biographical (duh), historical, movie spoilers abound! )