This rich and bouncy biography of a driven woman - mad for fashion, mad on passion - makes Posh look like a novice
Good Housekeeping
Sparkling like Emma's pawned diamonds ... Finally makes us understand why Nelson needed to be prised out of Emma's embrace to fight Napoleon...
Daily Mail
It is the thoroughness of the research and attention to detail that make Kate Williams' new biography of Emma Hamilton so interesting. The iconic Emma has been continuously reimagined since her lover Nelson's death, but Williams offers a new portrait
The Independent
Kate Williams has done a wonderful job recreating the life of the woman she wants us to relate to...This is an immensely colourful, readable portrait that revels in Emma's resilience and her ability to surmount what look to us now to be unimaginable odds
Independent on Sunday
Gallops along like a gripping novel, with an utterly believable and sympathetic character at its heart
Chesire Life
Reveals the woman behind the myths
Northern Echo
Utterly absorbing ... tantalizing
City AM
A wonderful sparkling biography
- Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire,
In this pacey retelling of a classic love story, Kate Williams has created a sparkling life worthy of Emma herself. A new biography for a new generation
- Stella Tillyard, author of A Royal Affair,
Popular history at its best
- David Liss, author of A Spectacle of Corruption,
A dramatic, sparkling tale of sex, glamour, intrigue, romance and heartbreak, England's Mistress traces the rise and rise of the gorgeous Emma Hamilton.
Born into poverty, she clawed her way up through London's underworlds of sex for sale to become England's first media superstar. Nothing could stand in the way of her dreams- except her self-destructive desires.
Drawing on hundreds of previously undiscovered letters, and told with a novelist's flair, England's Mistress captures the relentless drive, innovative style and burning passion of a true heroine. In a world of tabloid fame and three-minute wonders, Emma's life is truly a tale for our time.
A dramatic, sparkling tale of sex, glamour, intrigue, romance and heartbreak, England's Mistress traces the rise and rise of the gorgeous Emma Hamilton.
Born into poverty, she clawed her way up through London's underworlds of sex for sale to become England's first media superstar.