Inspired by her great-great-grandmother's tempestuous relationship with the men in her life and absolute disregard for convention, Daphne du Maurier delivers a captivating piece, featuring one of her most audacious and ambitious heroines yet. After abandoning her drunken husband, and unwilling to ...
return to the crippling poverty of her youth, Mary Anne begins to work as a high-class escort. Fortune favours her as she finds herself in the arms of The Duke of York and Albany, Frederick Augustus. Becoming his mistress, Mary Anne is seduced by the Duke's lavish lifestyle and the power it bestows on her.
She uses her charms and his title to trade in military commissions, venturing down a dark and seductive path which few women would have dared to go down. Set in the Regency period, du Maurier contrasts the luxurious and lavish lifestyle of the upper echelons of society with that of the impoverished lower class.
She also highlights the importance that Victorians placed on female virtue and the consequent ticking clock which Mary Anne would always be up against. Much like her ancestor, Daphne du Maurier was an intelligent, creative and resilient woman. A celebrated author and playwright who mastered the romantic and gothic genres, Daphne's masterpieces continue to entertain and intrigue us today and Mary Anne is no exception.
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