Daphne duMaurier Author:Mary Anne "Delightful, immoral, witty, foolish Mary Anne...her career puts in the shade such fictions as Becky Sharp, Scarlett O'Hara, and Amber. -Clifton Fadiman — In charming, corrupt Regency London, Mary Anne Clarke had beauty, brains, and wit. And poverty...So she entered an exacting profession. Spurred on by the demands of a drunken husband, a wast... more »rel brother and four children, she rose to the top. Mary Anne Clark became the mistress of a royal duke.
But for her greedy family she needed a fortune-and she got it the wrong way. The scandal rocked England from palace to Parliament. A cockney wench was selling commissions in the Army! When the tumult died a duke was in disgrace, a whole army was disorganized, and a couresan was the most faous woman in England.« less