My Last Duchess: The unputdownable epic novel of an American Heiress

Description

Cora Cash, possibly the wealthiest heiress in 1890s America, has been raised to believe that money will open every door to her. But when her mother whisks Cora to England to secure her an aristocratic match, Cora is dismayed by the welcome she at first receives. The great English houses in which she is entertained are frosty and forbidding, dogged by intrigue above stairs, and gossip below. And it is only when she loses her heart to a man she barely knows that Cora realises the game she is playing is one she does not full understand, and that her own future happiness could be the prize.

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.

Sparkling and thoroughly engaging...the story of a poor little rich girl learning the hard way how to concentrate on the next step along the tightrope makes for a highly enjoyable and intelligent read - The Sunday Times Daisy Goodwin's debut novel is a delightful confection - a clash of cultures set in late 19th-century England, embellished with the glittering lavishness that the period implies - Marie Claire Anyone suffering Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms (who isn't?) will find an instant tonic in Daisy Goodwin's My Last Duchess...this is a deliciously evocative first novel that lingers in the mind. Henry James with belles on - Allison Pearson, Telegraph, Books of the Year for Christmas Sparkling and thoroughly engaging...the story of a poor little rich girl learning the hard way how to concentrate on the next step along the tightrope makes for a highly enjoyable and intelligent read - The Sunday Times Daisy Goodwin's debut novel is a delightful confection - a clash of cultures set in late 19th-century England, embellished with the glittering lavishness that the period implies - Marie Claire Anyone suffering Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms (who isn't?) will find an instant tonic in Daisy Goodwin's My Last Duchess...this is a deliciously evocative first novel that lingers in the mind. Henry James with belles on - Allison Pearson, Telegraph, Books of the Year for Christmas