{"title":"Hester Davenport","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"faithful-handmaid-book-hester-davenport-9780750918817","title":"Faithful Handmaid","description":"On 14th June 1798, Fanny Burney, Keeper of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, shared the happiness of the Court at the return of King George III from a period of \"madness\", writing in her diary of her \"joy amounting to extacy; I could not keep my eyes dry all day\". For five years at Court, Burney was witness to the turbulent goings-on of the King's reign: the assassination attempt on the King, royal visits to the spa at Tunbridge Wells and elsewhere, the trial of Warren Hastings, and the King's \"madness\". Alongside the royal story and the depiction of the events of the times, we share Fanny's personal life, in particular the tale of her courtship and jilting by the equerry Stephen Digby, and her growing fame and fortune as a novelist. When Fanny joined the Court in 1786, she was already famous: \"Evelina\" had been a sensaton, its author's proclaimed anonymity causing the book to become discussed in circles that ranged from the royals to Dr Johnson. However, life at Court, with its rigid routines and extraordinary personalities, proved to be a strange existance for the novice. While she admired and loved the King and Queen and their family, she became increasingly dispirited by the contemptuous attitude of her superior, Mrs Schwellenberg. Colonel Stephen Digby, an equerry, appeared to pursue her, but married someone else, so Fanny turned her attention to a new literary form: the tragedy. Finally, her health gave way under the physical and mental strain of Court life and her father sanctioned her resignation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49519535227153,"sku":"GOR001275847","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49624286757137,"sku":"GOR002769825","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50825533554961,"sku":"GOR010395875","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0750918810.jpg?v=1750701188"},{"product_id":"prince-s-mistress-book-hester-davenport-9780750932271","title":"The Prince's Mistress","description":"Mary Robinson, nicknamed 'Perdita' by the Prince of Wales after her role on the London stage, had a number of high-profile relationships including Lord Malden, Charles James Fox, Lt. Col. Tarlton and the Prince of Wales himself. This book looks at her lovers, her life in the theatre and her literary work.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49539421012241,"sku":"GOR011289619","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51126128443665,"sku":"CIN161243780XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51150038892817,"sku":"GOR011189782","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51326963613969,"sku":"CIN161243780XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51662821753105,"sku":"GOR013485673","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53024380682513,"sku":"CIN161243780XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/161243780X.jpg?v=1751106520"},{"product_id":"faithful-handmaid-book-hester-davenport-9780750931939","title":"Faithful Handmaid","description":"Drawing on Fanny Burney's letters and journals, Hester Davenport explores the events of King George III's Court, and Burney's place within it. She became Keeper of the Robes to Queen Charlotte in 1786 and was witness to many dramas, such as the assassination attempt on the King in the same year.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49547971789073,"sku":"GOR003011241","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49574931169553,"sku":"GOR011817873","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50362217398545,"sku":"CIN0750931930G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0750931930.jpg?v=1751296274"},{"product_id":"prince-s-mistress-perdita-book-hester-davenport-9780750932288","title":"The Prince's Mistress, Perdita","description":"Mary Robinson, nicknamed 'Perdita' by the Prince of Wales after her role on the London stage, was a woman in whom showmanship and reckless behaviour contrasted with romantic sensibility and radical thinking. Born in Bristol in 1758, she moved to London with her family at a young age and was trained by Garrick for the theatre. After a royal command performance as Perdita in \"The Winter's Tale\", she was hotly pursued by George, the 17-year-old Prince of Wales, and she became his first mistress. He gave her GBP 20,000, a house in Berkeley Square, and another in Old Windsor; the popular press followed the affair with glee and gusto. But when he left her she blackmailed him for the return of his letters. A string of other high-profile lovers followed including Lord Malden, Charles James Fox and, most notably, Lt Col Tarlton. However, a miscarriage left Mary semi-paralysed and when her last lover deserted her to marry someone else, she wrote two novels in revenge. Her growing literary reputation brought in many friends, including Coleridge but her death saw the bailiffs trying to evict her from her cottage. This lively account of one of the most extraordinary women of her age is set against the social, literary, political and military background of the times.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49575942979857,"sku":"GOR003793676","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0750932287.jpg?v=1751437522"},{"product_id":"saint-jerome-book-hester-davenport-9781496186379","title":"Saint Jerome","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51030147498257,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51030149890321,"sku":"NIN9781496186379","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1496186370.jpg?v=1750716563"},{"product_id":"saint-jerome-book-hester-davenport-9781409717539","title":"Saint Jerome","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51102387929361,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51102390518033,"sku":"NIN9781409717539","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1409717534.jpg?v=1750714012"},{"product_id":"saint-jerome-book-hester-davenport-9781479391059","title":"Saint Jerome","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51170292531473,"sku":"NIN9781479391059","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1479391050.jpg?v=1751210794"},{"product_id":"writers-in-windsor-book-hester-davenport-9780952667803","title":"Writers in Windsor","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51774918099217,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51774918197521,"sku":"GOR003543537","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780952667803.jpg?v=1751615470"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-hester-davenport.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}