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A Scandalous Life: The Biography of Jane Digby: A Biography of Jane Digby
 
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A Scandalous Life: The Biography of Jane Digby: A Biography of Jane Digby [Paperback]

Mary S. Lovell (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
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Customers buy this book with Bess Of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth by Mary S. Lovell Paperback £6.88

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate; 8th reprint edition (18 Jun 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1857024699
  • ISBN-13: 978-1857024692
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 23,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Mary S. Lovell
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Product Description

Review

‘A rollicking good tale…Lovell has researched widely and gives a rich picture of this remarkable woman’s life.’
Sunday Express

‘Enthralling.’
Harper’s and Queen

‘A compelling narrative… Jane Digby’s sins make a wonderfully good read.’
Sunday Telegraph

‘A sympathetic readable biography.’
Daily Telegraph

Product Description

The biography of Jane Digby, an ‘enthralling tale of a nineteenth-century beauty whose heart – and hormones – ruled her head.’ Harpers and Queen

A celebrated aristocratic beauty, Jane Digby married Lord Ellenborough at seventeen. Their divorce a few years later was one of England s most scandalous at that time. In her quest for passionate fulfilment she had lovers which included an Austrian prince, King Ludvig I of Bavaria, and a Greek count whose infidelities drove her to the Orient. In Syria, she found the love of her life, a Bedouin nobleman, Sheikh Medjuel el Mezrab who was twenty years her junior.

Bestselling biographer Mary Lovell has produced from Jane Digby’s diaries not only a sympathetic and dramatic portrait of a rare woman, but a fascinating glimpse into the centuries-old Bedouin tradition that is now almost lost.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating 10 Oct 2004
Format:Paperback
I came across this book quite by accident and had never heard of Jane Digby before. What a remarkable woman. Her life was extraordinary, considered scandalous for her day, a life which led her from society in England, through Europe and on to spend the last segment of her life, with a man who turned out to be her greatest love, in Damascas and the desert. Truly a woman before her time, talented, smart, well-educated, a gifted linguist and seemingly fearless in the face of the many struggles she endured, often alone, on her chosen path in life. Mary Lovell has written a fascinating account of this remarkable woman. The book is very well written and never dwells too long, instead moving on from childhood through the stages of Jane's life towards the last years she spent with her Bedouin husband in the desert. Jane clearly touched many lives in many ways. Hers was a memorable life and one beautifully and respectfully recorded by Ms Lovell. I can thoroughly recommend this book.
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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
During her "Scandalous Life" Jane Digby was often written about in the popular press and remained a topic for tea time gossip for more than 50 years! Victorian England was fascinated by this unconventional woman who lived her life as she followed her heart and passions across Europe and the Middle East. Her story has so many twists and turns that it needs no embellishments.Mary S Lovell's research on Jane's life relied upon the volumes of diaries and letters she discovered . This brings a validity to her work that other writers have lacked. Jane's experience with the "tabloid press" type stories about her adventures (especially Isabel Burton's exaggerated account written when she thought Jane had died) had to leave her very cynical of potential biographers...but I really believe she would have been very pleased with Mary Lovell's book. The author presented Jane's life without moralizing and judging her and focused on her unique strengths and appreciation of strong personalities without prejudice of any kind. I was fortunate to find a copy of this biography while visiting in Ashburton,Devon, this August.It is out of print here (as "The Rebel Heart") and Mary Lovell's fans hope the publisher will reconsider. I was first introduced to Jane's extraordinary life when I read a biography of her distant relative, Pamela Digby Harriman and the reference was made to the similarities between these two unconventional women. After reading Pamela's life story...I knew I had to find out more about this earlier Digby woman that Pamela felt such a connection with. Mary Lovell has a real flair for writing about strong women characters.
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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book, but I have withheld the final star, the reasons for which I shall give.

The life of Jane Digby was so varied, and so at odds with her time, sex and upbringing, that I wonder she has not been covered before more frequently. Evidently a woman who loved often but not well, you learn many interesting things as the author takes you in and out of the scrapes Jane put herself through. One interesting tidbit is the origin of the term 'cad'. This is the stuff I read biographies for!

Mary Lovell had access to an immense amount of documentation during the writing of this book, including the diaries (previously thought lost) of Jane Digby herself. This lends the book a wealth of colour and detail which many biographies cannot match. The author also tries to avoid guesswork in looking at the character and motives of her subject.

My only complaint, and it should not stop you buying the book, is that it is too short and definitely not detailed enough considering the source material. I have the strong suspicion that this is the publisher's fault. The most detailed part of the book is Jane's life from her late forties onwards. I felt that the earlier part of her life, including the eponymous scandal of her first divorce, should have been framed better in its period. There is a danger that Jane comes over as a very 'modern' woman, inexplicably time-warped back to the pre-victorian era. I am left with the feeling that the author has been forced to 'skimp', or that the potential readership has been assumed to be less bright than average. I found this frustrating.

If you liked "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire", I am sure you will like this. But it isn't quite of the same calibre.

Well worth a read.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
What a life!
Jane Digby certainly led a very different life from most Victorian aristocratic women.The book made fascinating reading and made me question Victorian attitudes and what happened... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Book Club Val
A Scandalous life. Jane digby biog
What a wonderful eye-opening and truly enjoyable book. Never a dull moment. What a lady! Knowing Syria and the Bedouin quite well, I found that part of particular interest. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dints
A Hidden Gem
This may have been a scandalous life for its time, but it has to be said, it was a beautiful one. Filled with the awe inspiring love this woman lived by, this book is as powerful,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Aimee
Amazing woman
Jane Digby was an amazing woman. I would encourage anyone interested to discover how the real 18th century worked to read this biography. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Riven
An amazing read
Just buy it, read it, enjoy it. A woman far ahead of her time, every bit as good a story as Maeve Binchy could weave. Read more
Published 14 months ago by S. J. Bell
Not 'Scandalous' as much as 'Scandal-ridden'
I first heard of Jane Digby while visiting Damascus last year and was immediately intrigued by her story so, having enjoyed an earlier work by Mary S. Read more
Published on 25 July 2009 by Tanya Lunn
A Scandalous Life
We had this book after a reccomndation from a National Trust property we visited interesting but quite hard going.It has connections with Wimpole Hall
Published on 26 Jun 2009 by B. Trinder
A fascinating subject sensitively handled
Other reviews have said what an interesting read this is and I thoroughly agree. It's a gripping tale of a remarkable life led by a very interesting and paradoxical woman. Read more
Published on 21 April 2009 by C. o'neill
An Extraordinary Life
The only book I've read using two bookmarks! The extraordinarily rich biography of Lady Jane Digby whetted my hunger to know everything about her, so the notes were bookmarked as... Read more
Published on 7 Aug 2008 by Lavalla
Essential reading for all women
This is by far one of my favourite books. It recounts the life of a remarkable women who broke free from the social constraints required in a women of her social class at the time,... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2008 by D. Wild
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