Paperback of the Week
Lara Feigel writing in The Observer,
Sunday August 10 2008

The Duchess : Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

Amanda Foreman, Harper Perennial,
£7.99

It is surprising that it has taken 10 years for the film of Amanda Foreman's elegant 18th-century romp, which hits the screens this September, to be made. The biography, which is being re-released as a tie-in, has all the ingredients for a popular period drama: a strong heroine, a jealous rival, an evil husband and a beautiful young knight errant, together with stately homes and outrageous fashions. It's all the more enticing because familiar historical figures wander on set to comment on and partake in the action. The heroine, Georgiana, is an intimate friend of Marie Antoinette and an enemy of William Pitt. She is observed by the novelist Fanny Burney, who found herself with 'the strongest disposition to admire and like her'.

Read Laura Feigel's full piece online.