- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd; 1st Edition edition (7 Feb 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743209184
- ISBN-13: 978-0743209182
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 5.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,404,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Sunday Telegraph, January 30, 2005
...well researched and gripping...Fanny comes alive as an intelligent, strong-minded woman...an enjoyable biography
Sunday Times, January 30, 2005
as lively, engaging and opinionated as its subject...written with poise and a generous dose of wit
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Few of us know much about the theatre of Georgian England, and this reviewer knows as little as any. The name of Kemble suggested only dim associations with the London stage of an earlier era and, as I recall, there is a street and a pub of that name in Covent Garden . However, we an live in an age dominated by celebrity, and for me the revelation of Rebecca Jenkins' beautifully written and engrossing book is that this began far earlier than most of us might realise, and that Fanny Kemble, the star subject of this biography was a true Celebrity before the term was used. Her picture was everywhere, her image was on mugs and headscarves, everything she did was fed by an eager press to an even more eager audience, and her performances gripped the London stage. She was a star, from the Kemble family, to whom stardom and the theatre was a way of being.
Like many stars since, she then broke the mould. Her disastrous marriage to an American plantation owner, whom she subsequently, and to her intense disapproval, found to be a slave owner, and her consequent return to London and divorce, added that touch of chaos, drama and accident which characterises star lifestyles to this day. She was then, and would be now, a gift to the media, even if this was something she never sought or planned.
Rebecca Jenkins writes with humour, wit and elegance, and is absolutely in control of her material. There has clearly been impeccable research, but this is far from a dry academic work. Those, like me, who know little of that time, but may have enjoyed reading about Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire or the other larger-than-life figures of that period will love this.
Fanny Kemble lived to an unusually old age for her time, and this book concentrates on the first half of her remarkable life. One is left waiting for the sequel, for Part Two, and I hope Rebecca Jenkins is planning to write it. If it is as good as this one, it will be worth waiting for.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm a sucker for any film or TV programme that brings the theatre of the 19th century to life, and that is what this book does. The writing is both precise and immediate, so that although the book is long, I found I was carried through by the character of Fanny Kemble, which jumps off the page. The author combines meticulous attention to historical detail with a dry sense of humour, and never gets in the way of Fanny's own voice. A very good read, as well as being highly informative. I hope the author gets round to writing the second book to cover the second half of Fanny's life!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Fanny Kemble is a strong, compelling, complicated character. Rebecca Jenkins has captured the essence of a challenging personality living a celebrated life in this romantic and exciting era. You want to know what will happen next in the dramatic life of this fascinating woman. The style is colourful, funny and human, making this book a very enjoyable read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Half a biography
A disappointing book. Having taken eighty pages to get Miss Kemble born, Jenkins allows her to vanish abruptly in the 1830s, presumably at the point at which the author lost... Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2009 by G. Hatherick
Celebrity Culture 19thC style
Rebecca Jenkins gives a highly readable yet erudite picture of the background and motivations of one of the most interesting women of the 19thC, both as a person and as part of the... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2006 by "fionagatty"
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