Fanny Kemble: A Reluctant Celebrity - Hardcover

Jenkins, Rebecca

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743209184 ISBN 13: 9780743209182

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2005

Synopsis

Fanny Kemble was born into the most famous acting dynasty of the London stage. Unlike her aunt, the legendary Sarah Siddons, Fanny did not want to be an actress. However, when her father, the actor-manager of Covent Garden, faced bankruptcy in 1829, her appearance as Juliet made her a star. Touring America in 1832, Fanny met Philadelphian Pierce Butler and left the stage for love. Once a wife, she learned, to her horror, that the Butler wealth came from a slave plantation in Georgia. Challenging the conventions of her day and her husband, she insisted on speaking out—and discovered that marriage could not contain the independent woman she had become.

About this title

About the Author:

Rebecca Jenkins was born in Oxford and spent her childhood in England and Switzerland. After studying History at Somerville College, Oxford, she took up journalism and now freelances. She has previously written a historical detective novel, THE DUKE'S AGENT, based in Regency England, and is the co-writer of FREE TO BELIEVE. This is her first biography.

Review:

A vivid picture of a clever, vital, snobbish, and self-obsessed woman. -- The Times Literary Supplement

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0743209184
• ISBN 13: 9780743209182
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 498