Beautiful For Ever: Madame Rachel of Bond Street - Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer

Description

The scandalous tale of Madame Rachel - celebrated beautician to the rich and famous of Victorian London, con-artist and convicted blackmailer. A TRUE STORY OF LIES, BEAUTY AND BLACKMAIL IN VICTORIAN LONDON;_________________________;Madame Rachel had everything.;;A Mayfair address; the title of 'purveyor to Her Majesty the Queen'; a shop full of exotic, expensive creams and potions; and a clientele of the aristocratic, the rich - and the gullible. ;;Little did they suspect that Madame Rachel had once been a poor fish-fryer in a disease-ridden, grubby corner of Victorian London. Her shop in New Bond Street lured her wealthy clients in their droves, enticed by the promise of eternal beauty. What they found there was a con-woman and fraudster who made a career out of lies, treachery and the desperate hopes of women wanting to be 'beautiful for ever'. ;;Beautiful For Ever is a thrilling tale of love affairs, scandal, blackmail, high-profile court cases, suicide and fraud, with the extraordinary Madame Rachel right at the centre of it all.

Helen Rappaport is an historian and Russianist with a specialism in the Victorians and revolutionary Russia. Her books include Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs, No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War, and Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert and the death that changed the monarchy, as well as Beautiful For Ever: Madame Rachel of Bond Street - Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer. She lives in West Dorset.

A remarkable story... Rappaport handles her scandalous Victorian melodrama with energy and aplomb, and produces a richly entertaining portrait of the seamy side of 19th century society * Daily Mail * Madame Rachel's story, which has been superbly researched by Rappaport, is intriguing in itself sheds a fascinating light on the ladies of Victorian society * Daily Telegraph * Beautiful For Ever is one of those un-put-downable surprises that makes reading worthwhile... This book has the same mix of forensic investigation and light touch that makes Kate Summerscale's books so interesting * Big Issue * Speaks volumes about vanity and Victorian attitudes to women -- Sophie Morris * Independent * [Beautiful For Ever] is, blissfully, proof that there is still simply nothing quite like a good Victorian scandal. Rappaport excels again in this thoroughly researched account of Madame Rachel...this is a well-paced read that tells us something about the modern obsession with appearance while remaining deliciously Victorian at its core * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *