The Last of the Duchess by Caroline Blackwood

The Last of the Duchess by Caroline Blackwood

The Last of the Duchess is the account of Caroline Blackwood's attempts to write a final article on The Duchess of Windsor, who spent her last years under the thumb of her eccentric lawyer.  * "A sharply observed (and sometimes very funny) portrait of the frivolous world of wealth and luxury inhabited by the Windsors." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

In 1980, Lady Caroline Blackwood was given what she thought would be a simple task: write a Sunday Times article on the aging Duchess of Windsor, who was said to be convalescing in her rambling French mansion. Unknown to Blackwood, what began as an easy assignment would become one of the most troubling experiences of her writing career, and would launch her into a cat-and-mouse game of wits with the Duchess's grande dame of a protector, Suzanne Blum. Fiercely protective of her client, Maitre Blum refused to let Blackwood near the Duchess, spinning elaborate excuses as to why she was unavailable but threatening to sue anyone who dared suggest that the woman who once inspired a king to abdicate his crown was in less than the best of health. Blackwood turned her experiences into this riveting and excoriating modern classic about the frailties of old age, the foibles of society, and the dual-edged nature of celebrity.

"Beguiling. . . . Blackwood is witty, understated and perceptive." --The Washington Post

Caroline Blackwood (1931-1996) was born into a rich Anglo-Irish aristocratic family. She rebelled against her background at an early age and led a hectic and bohemian life, which included marriages to the painter Lucian Freud, the pianist and composer Israel Citkowitz, and the poet Robert Lowell. In the 1970s Blackwood began to write. Among her books are several novels, including Great Granny Webster and Corrigan (both available asNYRB Classics); On the Perimeter, an account of the women's anti-nuclear protest at Greenham Common; and The Last of the Duchess, about the old age of the Duchess of Windsor.

Andrew Solomon is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Artforum, and The New York Times Magazine, and the author ofThe Irony Tower: Soviet Artists in a Time of Glasnost; the novelA Stone Boat; and The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, for which he received the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize nomination. He lives in New York City and London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780345802637
ISBN 10	0345802632
Title	The Last of the Duchess
Author	Caroline Blackwood
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2012-10-02
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.