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Mrs Keppel and Her Daughter

On sale

4th July 2013

Price: £12.99

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Selected: ebook / ISBN-13: 9781780878812

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Alice Keppel, lover of Queen Victoria’s son Edward VII and great-grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles, was the acceptable face of Edwardian adultery. It was her art to be the King’s mistress yet to laud the Royal Family and the institution of marriage. She partnered the King for yachting at Cowes and helped him choose presents for his wife Queen Alexandra while remaining calmly married to her complaisant husband George. But for her daughter Violet, passionately in love with Vita Sackville-West, romance proved tragic and destructive. Mrs Keppel used all the force at her command to repress the relationship.

This fascinating and intense mother-daughter relationship highlights Edwardian and contemporary duplicity and double standards. It goes to the heart of questions about the monarchy, family values and sexual freedoms.

Reviews

Daily Mail
'Unnatural vices, acts of illicit passion, kings, mistresses, elopements, extravagant riches - this book has them all. A wonderful story, wonderfully told' Christopher Hudson, Daily Mail.
New Statesman
'Souhami uses historical lives to illuminate more than private passions. Funny and precise' Kathryn Hughes, New Statesman.
New York Times
'Fascinating and richly textured, Souhami's style is vital, brave and full of flair' Kennedy Fraser, New York Times.
Sunday Telegraph
'Souhami has a Midas touch with words. Her narrative sparkles' Nigel Nicolson, Sunday Telegraph.