My Last Duchess

Description

Cora Cash has grown up in a world in which money unlocks every door. Her coming-out ball promises to be the most opulent of the gilded 1890s, a fitting debut for New York's 'princess'. Yet her fortune cannot buy her the one thing she craves -- the freedom to choose her own destiny. For Cora's mother has her heart on a title for her daughter, and in England -- where they are bound, to find Cora a husband -- impoverished blue bloods are queuing up for introductions to American heiresses. But the aristocracy is a treacherous realm. When Cora loses her heart to a man she barely knows, she soon realises that she is playing a game she does not fully understand -- and that her future happiness is the prize. Daisy Goodwin's sparking debut brings the fin de siecle romance between England and America to exuberant life.

Daisy Goodwin's work as a TV producer and presenter includes Reader I Married Him, Bookworm and The Nation's Favourite Poems; she is also the creator of Grand Designs. She has edited numerous poetry anthologies, including the bestselling 101 Poems That Could Save Your Life, and is the author of Silver River, a memoir. She is Chair of the judging panel of the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction. My Last Duchess is her first novel.

'I was seduced by this book, rather as Cora is seduced by her duke: with great skill and confidence. Daisy Goodwin's first novel is intriguing, atmospheric and extremely stylish. I was still thinking about it long after I had reached the end' -- Penny Vincenzi 'A pleasure from start to finish' -- Woman & Home '... sparkling and thoroughly engaging novel... a highly enjoyable and intelligent read.' -- The Sunday Times 'A wonderfully guilty pleasure of a read. the detailing is beautiful, the great phalanx of historical characters amusing and the relief of reading a novel that puts enjoyment first, so rare and gratifying that I am ready for a sequel.' -- Amanda Foreman, Sunday Telegraph 'Daisy Goodwin's debut novel is a delightful confection... embellished with the glittering lavishness that the period implies.' -- Marie Claire