Acclaimed as the greatest comic actress of her day, Dora Jordan played a quite different role off-stage as lover to the future king, William IV, third son of George III. In fact, Dora bore no less than ten children and the couple lived happily in a villa on the Thames until William bowed to pressure and abandoned her.
Making full use of Dora's letters to William, Claire Tomalin vividly re-creates the royal, political and theatrical worlds of late eighteenth-century England. The story of how Dora moved between stage and home, of how she battled for her family and her career makes a classic tale of royal perfidy and womanly courage.
`Intelligent, finely made and wonderfully readable. As gripping as the best fiction.' Jan Dalley, Independent on Sunday.
The sad story of a woman who loved a prince, gave him children and a home and then was cast off by him. They couldn't marry because of the rules imposed on him by the king, but when they were together they would appear to have had a happy relationship. However as the pressure increased on him to form a more conventional marriage, his relationship with Dora Jordan died to be replaced by bitter recriminations and jealousy.
Dora was a well-regarded actress, she supported the prince for years and unfortunately suffered for it. She wasn't treated as she should have and she ended up being cast off, disregarded.
It's an interesting read and the author has a lot of sympathy for Dora, taking umbridge at some other commentors and being glad that she has a place now in history instead of being swept under the carpet. I found it an interesting and enjoyable read and it cast another light on the period. Should be read by readers and writers of Regency romances, to see what it was like sometimes in reality.
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