Bought in Poundland.

A fascinating subject but I found myself getting very irritated by the old-fashioned and judgemental writing style. Lady Hester Stanhope isn't the most likeable character either. Worth reading but grated on me a bit.

Going to the winner of the Iconic Sweeps.

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Thank you for this book which looks interesting. Thanks also for all the other goodies.

I hadn't heard of Lady Hester Stanhope before. She was a very interesting but annoying woman. She was very brave to travel where she did and I enjoyed reading about her exploits. The style of writing annoyed me at times.

You like biographies, so I hope you like this one.

Received as part of my NSSFC surprise, thank you. I have not long completed a really heavy biography on the first lady of Chatsworth which was absolutely fascinating so look forward to reading about this lady who seems to have lead an interesting life!

It was a very interesting book and the woman was truly awful to those whom she employed, her social inferiors, but yet showed amazing generosity to strangers and beggars who appealed to her sometimes better nature. She was a mass of contradictions, very complex and unpredictable but it was truly amazing that she was able to up sticks and travel around the Middle East, without male protection, but wearing the Eastern male costume as a preference rather than an attempt to disguise her gender. An insanely brave woman who would not be dominated by anybody, especially a man! She was feared by most, but respected by all. She loathed her own sex and regarded herself as a rather superior being!

A dose of the plague was thought to have caused some brain damage which sent her slowly sinking into insanity which did not make her more amenable as she got older. She died in poverty at the age of 63 a disease ridden, dirty, toothless old hag. What goes around comes around!

The writing style didn't annoy me. The author was born in 1912 and the biography was first published in 1934 so was of its time.

Book left on a bench on the walkway across the harbour. It overlooks the Rock Salt restaurant