Publisher's Synopsis
One of the most flamboyant women of the late-eighteenth century, Mary Robinson's life was marked by reversals of fortune. After being raised by a middle-class father, Mary was married, age 14, to Thomas Robinson. His dissipated lifestyle landed the couple and their baby in debtor's prison, where Mary wrote her first book of poetry and met lifelong friend Georgina, the Duchess of Devonshire...On her release, Mary quickly became one of the most popular actresses of the day, famously playing Perdita in The Winter's Tale for a rapt audience that included the Prince of Wales, who fell madly in love with her...this authoritative and engaging book presents a fascinating portrait of a woman who was variously darling of the London stage, a poet whose work was admired by Coleridge and a mistress to the most powerful men in England. Yet her fortunes were precarious, always on the brink of being squandered through recklessness, excess and passion.
