Silly & shallow book with the odd & clunky placement of facts dropped into the narrative and dialogue like anvils. (Example: during foreplay, Banastre Tarleton cites the correct issue of a magazine where he read one of Mary's poems. It reads like a footnote.) The theatre & its luminaries aren't even treated that deeply, since Mary's career was very brief. Likewise, the affair with the Prince (the selling point of the book) lasted all of 6 months. The majority of the book is Mary acting like a willing and desperate doormat to her men. Ugh.

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This is a well-researched and written fictional biography of a minor player in 18th century British society. Mary Robinson was indeed the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but it was only for a short period of his and her lives. She was well known as a theatrical actress and although she was often in the company of the nobility such as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, it was brought brutally home to her that, common born as she was, she would never really be "one of them." It is likely that her personality as an intelligent, strong willed and passionate woman is the result of what basically can be seen as the trainwreck of her personal life. The severe and undue insults and depravation brought upon her by her love affairs with men was so striking that her daughter determined to remain single all of her life. Robinson was multi-talented - in addition to her theatrical and social skills she was also a writer of plays and books. Unfortunately, this intelligence did not play into her romantic and intimate life.

This book gives quite an accurate portrayal of this courageous yet foolhardy woman, highlighting her talents and abilities while not sugar coating the low points which constantly appeared throughout her life. It gives the reader a view of British society at one of its most scintillating and interesting periods, from within but also from without.

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