Du Maurier's great-great-grandmother, Mary Anne Clarke, was mistress to the Duke of York during the Napoleonic Wars. In a sometimes cumbersome combination of fact and fiction, du Maurier chronicles the rags-to-riches tale of her bright, ambitious, amoral ancestor, who, overwhelmed by youthful passion, marries at 16. After her husband drinks himself into insensibility and is institutionalized, she passes as a widow, attracting the attention of the duke. Carole Boyd creates an appealing, headstrong Mary Anne. Her attitude is whimsical, often mischievous, as the young woman recognizes her taste for luxury and power. In intimate tones, she reveals the skilled courtesan who finally overreaches herself. However, in the sections recreating the House of Commons investigation into the duke's activities, not even Boyd's performance can keep things from bogging down. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --Ce texte provient de la Audio Cassette �dition.

Product Description

In Regency London, the only way for a woman to succeed is to beat men at their own game. So when Mary Anne Clarke seeks an escape from her squalid surroundings in Bowling Inn Alley, she ventures first into the scurrilous world of the pamphleteers. Her personal charms are such, however, that before long she comes to the notice of the Duke of York. With her taste for luxury and power, Mary Anne, now a royal mistress, must aim higher. Her lofty connections allow her to establish a thriving trade in military commissions, provoking a scandal that rocks the government - and brings personal disgrace. A vivid portrait of overweening ambition, MARY ANNE is set during the Napoleonic Wars and based on du Maurier's own great-great- grandmother. --Ce texte provient de la Paperback �dition.

Voir toutes les Descriptions du produit

Associer des mots-cl�s � ce produit

(De quoi s'agit-il ?)

Consid�rez votre mot-cl� comme une sorte d'�tiquette d�finissant parfaitement ce produit.
Les mots-cl�s aident les clients � organiser et trouver leurs articles favoris.

L'avis des consommateurs

1 Evaluation

5 �toiles:		(1)
4 �toiles:		(0)
3 �toiles:		(0)
2 �toiles:		(0)
1 �toiles:		(0)

�valuation du client type

5.0�toiles sur 5 (1 �valuation de client)

Partagez votre opinion avec les autres clients:

Cr�er votre propre commentaire

Commentaires client les plus utiles

5.0�toiles sur 5 (4.5) Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...., Mars 23 2009

Par	Misfit (Seattle, WA USA) - Voir tous mes commentaires (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Mary Anne (Paperback)

A bit different from your usual Du Maurier novel, in this one she tells the story of her great-great-grandmother Mary Anne Clarke. Borne into a poor London family, Mary Anne marries Joseph Clarke who ends up drinking and gambling away any money he gets from his family. Disgusted with the marriage and desperate to support her children, Mary Anne finds herself tempted by a *cough* broker for the wealthy nobility and becomes mistress to Frederick Duke of York. Although being a mistress of a prince with no head for money brings on its own dilemma - how to run a household and a lavish lifestyle on the meager allowance the Duke gives her. With a war looming, men eager for commissions seek preferable treatment through Mary Anne, as the Duke is also the Commander-in-Chief and an offer of money gets a word in the right ear.

Eventually the Duke tires of Mary Anne and she finds herself out in the cold with massive household debts and no pension from the Duke, her brother unjustly cashiered out of the army and her finger is very much in the pie when the scandal of selling commissions hits Parliament with a full blown investigation including the testimony of one very disgruntled ex-mistress. I won't be a spoiler, but further actions taken by Mary Anne in revenge against those who "done her wrong" don't work out as planned and sets her on a nine-month path of harrowing consequences.

Du Maurier is superb as always, she had me hooked from the very unusual opening reflecting back on Mary Anne's life (do go back and reread it after you've finished) to the very end as she makes a very final and fitting farewell to the man who had such an impact on her life. The kind of woman you either love or hate, Mary Anne was most definitely a woman who did what she had to do in order to survive in a man's world and make a better life for her children. Du Maurier doesn't sugar coat her image either - she's presented as is, warts and all. I loved the relationship between her and the Duke, particularly their first meeting in the *cough* broker's parlor where not knowing who she's set to meet she natters on about the latest court gossip (priceless!), to their first dinner and the popping buttons (you'll know when you get there) although tops was the way the author worked in Mary Anne getting those officer's names out there in between seducing the Duke. Its so refreshing to see that an author can write a sex scene so subtly that it isn't staring you in the face with blow-by-blow details but you know what's going on at the same time. The only parts that did drag were the court scenes, with endless pages of testimony and dialogue, and for that I'm knocking off 1/2 star - 4.5/5 stars.

Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ? Oui Non (Signaler ce commentaire)

Partagez votre opinion avec les autres clients: Cr�er votre propre commentaire

› Lire les commentaires des internautes

Cherchez des articles semblables par cat�gorie

Books > Literature & Fiction
Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

Commentaires

Souhaitez-vous compl�ter ou am�liorer les informations sur ce produit ? Ou faire modifier les images?

Votre historique r�cent

(En savoir plus)

Apr�s avoir visualis� des pages d�taill�es produit ou des r�sultats de recherche, regardez ici pour trouver une fa�on simple de poursuivre votre navigation sur des pages qui vous int�ressent.

› Visitez la Page Que Vous Avez Faite

Apprenez de Nous

Gagnez de l'argent

Permettez-nous de Vous Aider

Conditions g�n�rales de vente | D�claration de confidentialit� � 2008-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. ou ses soci�t�s affili�es.

Mary Anne: A Novel (Hardcover)

Les d�tails du produit

Descriptions du produit