Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
England's Mistress
England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton | Kate Williams
13 posts | 4 read | 12 to read
She was the most famous woman in Englandthe beautiful model for society painters Joshua Reynolds and George Romney, an icon of fashion, the wife of an ambassador, and the mistress of naval hero Horatio Nelson. But Emma Hamilton had been born to the poverty of a coal-mining town and spent her teenage years working as a prostitute. From the brothels of London to the glittering court of Naples and the pretentious country estate of the most powerful admiral in England, British debut historian Kate Williams captures the life of Emma Hamilton with all its glamour and heartbreak. In lucid, engaging prose, Williams brings to life a complex and intelligent woman. Emma is sensuous, generous, artistic, at once shamelessly seductive and recklessly ambitious. Willing to do anything for love and fame, she sets out to make herself a starand she succeeds beyond even her wildest dreams. By the age of twenty-six, she leaves behind the precarious life of a courtesan to become Lady Hamilton, wife of Sir William Hamiltonthe aging, besotted, and probably impotent British ambassador to the court of Naples. But everything changes when Lord Nelson steams into Naples harbor fresh from his triumph at the Battle of the Nile and literally falls into Emmas adoring arms. Their all-consuming romanceconducted amid the bloody tumult of the Napoleonic Warsmakes Emma an international celebrity, especially when she returns to England pregnant with Nelsons baby. With a novelists flair and an historians eye for detail, Williams conjures up the world that Emma Hamilton conquered by the sheer force of her charisma. All but inventing the art of publicity, Emma turned herself into a kind of flesh-and-blood goddesscelebrated by wits and artists, adored by thousands, and, for a time, very rich. Yet Emma was willing to throw it all away for the man she adored. After four years of archival research and making use of hundreds of previously undiscovered letters and documents, Kate Williams sets the record straight on one of the most fascinating and ravishing women in history. Englands Mistress captures the relentless drive, the innovative style, and the burning passion of a true heroine. From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

@Clwojick I finally have my #Tbrdeckofcards! If the prompts seem familiar it's because they are the #52Booksin52Weeks ones.

Of the hearts, I've already completed:
J - Sparks joy - England's Mistress (reminds me of the #readingretreat #friendship #200pnpcovers @CrowCAH @mabell because she was born where Gladstone's Library is)
7 - Set in rural area - The Poisonwood Bible
8 - Involves a second chance - The Founding Gardeners

CrowCAH Great pick! 2y
Clwojick Way to go!! 🖤🖤 2y
42 likes2 comments
review
jenniferw88
post image
Pickpick
rockpools I‘d forgotten she was a Hawarden girl! I read this ages back and found the first half fascinating (considerably less interested once Nelson was on the scene 😂😂) 2y
Caroline2 Sounds interesting. Stacked! 😃 2y
squirrelbrain Sounds great! 2y
Cathythoughts Sounds good 👍❤️ 2y
TrishB I didn‘t know that 😁 2y
61 likes1 stack add5 comments
quote
jenniferw88
post image

AND PEOPLE SAY SHE DOESN'T MENTION CURRENT EVENTS!!! 😡

#PemberLittens @sprainedbrain

46 likes1 stack add
quote
jenniferw88
post image

So it turns out that Mr Dashwood's behaviour towards his half-sisters was not that unusual for the time...

#PemberLittens @BarkingMadRun @sprainedbrain

BarkingMadRead Wow! That‘s awful! 2y
40 likes1 comment
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

50p in my local charity shop!

49 likes1 stack add
blurb
rockpools
post image

For #IAmAPoseur, I can't help but think of Emma Hamilton and her 'attitudes' - "classical poses + modern allure". She certainly liked making people stare!

#fiercefeb @batsy @Cinfhen

batsy Nice one! Love the illustration 😊 6y
LeahBergen I loved the “attitudes” thing. 👏🏻👏🏻 6y
Cinfhen OMG! #DramaQueen 😂😂 (edited) 6y
52 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
Librarybelle
post image

I adore candles. My allergies flare up if I smell anything floral or outdoorsy, so I have to stick to foodish smelling candles. This is the candle on my dresser, along with a myriad of books waiting to be shelved in my library, and a container of cat treats (!). I have so many candles...probably my next biggest collection after books. #bookandcandles #autumnreads

BibliophileMomma Floral ones kill my allergies too! I love foodie ones though! 7y
62 likes1 comment
blurb
LeahBergen
post image

Not even pudding?? 😂 #WhattaMan

I've always been fascinated by the life of Emma, Lady Hamilton and her steamy affair with Horatio, Lord Nelson. I'm not so sure about his love letters, though. 😏

#90sInJuly

Robothugs ? "I didn't eat ANYTHING! Not even pudding! And you know how much I love that!" 7y
raeintheworld Have you seen the old movie with Laurence Olivier and Viviane Leigh? I love the story of Emma, Lady Hamilton. 7y
saresmoore There must be something about Lord Nelson that I'm missing because Emma is a total babe! 7y
See All 17 Comments
JSW Mr. JSW and I can relate. I love him more than donuts and he loves me more than pizza. So. 🤔😂 7y
readinginthedark I SO get this, though! I love food so much. 😂😂😂 7y
MayJasper He was Mr. Power! 7y
MayJasper Wiki "Boiled or steamed pudding was a common main course aboard ships in the Royal Navy during the 18th and 19th centuries. Pudding was used as the primary dish in which daily rations of flour and suet were prepared." 7y
LeahBergen @Robothugs Right? 😂 7y
LeahBergen @raeintheworld No, I haven't! I'll be on the lookout now. Thanks! 7y
LeahBergen @saresmoore I think his hunkiness definitely stemmed from the fact that he was the the nation's greatest naval strategist and war hero. 😂 7y
LeahBergen @JSW Not more than donuts, surely? 😉 7y
LeahBergen @readinginthedark Yeah. I kind of do, too. 😄 7y
LeahBergen @MayJasper Yes, as bad as those sound they are infinitely better than a weevily biscuit! (and now I'm thinking of "the lesser of two weevils" from Patrick O'Brian ?). 7y
MayJasper I would read that book @LeahBergen! 😁 Weevils might provide some protein to their diets. 7y
ValerieAndBooks It's a fascinating story! This is the one I have about her: 7y
LeahBergen @ValerieAndBooks I have that one, too. It was my first introduction to her life. 👍🏼 7y
Centique 😂😂😂 7y
92 likes5 stack adds17 comments
blurb
rockpools
post image

#marchwrapup #ro17

A mixed bag this month, I would say, but the #nonfictionchallenge17 is going great guns! Let's not talk about the Other challenges, eh? Especially the ones that involve reading My Own Books.

And logging this against England's Mistress because that took by far the most effort!

review
rockpools
post image
Mehso-so

What do you want from a biography?

The early part of Emma Hamilton's life was spent in poverty, so few records remain. In their place, we get lashings of social history, which I found fascinating!

The second half, Emma is desperately in love with Nelson, & doing whatever she can to keep her place in society. Turns out celebrity culture was alive, well & viscious long before Twitter. Probably more what you'd expect from a biog but endless. 😝👇

rockpools And the final part - a sad, sad end. What happens to an independent woman in a society where being an independent woman just isn't an option? Overall a good read, a little repetitive in places, but the minutiae of her & Nelson's relationship took me close to bailing several times. And do all audiobook narrators insist on doing the accents? Also, cover-designer-person - Really??? (edited) 7y
25 likes1 comment
blurb
rockpools
post image

I am 12/15ths of the way through a 16h44 audiobook and I really want to bail. But I kind of feel committed after 13 HOURS of the flipping thing (make it stop 🙉) . The first half was really interesting (which is why I haven't bailed yet) but the minutiae of Emma's relationship with Nelson is beyond tedious. I might have to stick with litsy-approved titles in future.

Megabooks I hate getting mired in mediocre audiobooks!! 7y
Sue How frustrating! (Can you turn the speed right up so you can power through?) 7y
rockpools @Ebooksandcooks 'Mired' just about sums it up. I'm going to start checking the length before I start future audiobooks 😕 7y
rockpools @Sue Good plan! I'm up to 1.5, but maybe I'll see if I can follow it any faster. 7y
Sue @RachelO You go girl! 7y
21 likes5 comments
blurb
rockpools
post image

My #recentnonfictionread is actually a current read, but hey. I've hardly read any historical bios, and I know nothing about the subject, but I'm finding Emma Hamilton's life fascinating. So far we've gone from rural poverty in North Wales via a London brothel to life with a wealthy volcano-geek in Naples! ?

#marchintoreading @RealLifeReading

Pic: Romney -Emma Hart as Circe. Photo: © Tate CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 (Unported) https://tinyurl.com/pwngzbt

rockpools 👆It includes loads of social history along with the specifics of Emmas life, & I'm finding it a really entertaining & interesting read. 7y
Suet624 That photo grabbed me! 7y
Reviewsbylola Beautiful 😍 7y
See All 6 Comments
LeahBergen I read a different biography about her. She was amazing! 7y
rockpools @Suet624 @Reviewsbylola It's lovely, isn't it? Apparently she had more portraits painted than Queen Victoria. Sounds like she took her modelling career very seriously - and was good at it! (Though it probably couldn't be considered a career, what with her being a woman and all...) 7y
rockpools @LeahBergen She was! She's done so much and she's not even 26 yet (in my reading) - if it wasn't true, you wouldn't believe half of it. (Not sure that sentence makes sense, but you know what I mean!) 7y
29 likes1 stack add6 comments
blurb
rockpools
post image

Random #overdrive find.

Not sure if I'll read all of this, but it's landed in my ears and I'm enjoying it so far. I won't comment on the cover. Yet.

I like Kate Williams' style (& I just worked out who she is!) Although biography, she's interested in the history of the era, so adds in context/how things were/could have been. I'm more likely to read for history than biogs so I'm good with that, but GR reviews suggest it's a problem. We'll see!