England’s Mistress

Author Kate Williams
Narrator Sophie Ward
Publisher Random House
Run Time 16 hours and 35 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Biography and non-fiction prose, Biography: historical, political and military, European history, History.

Listen to a sample

What to expect

A dramatic, sparkling tale of sex, glamour, intrigue, romance and heartbreak, England's Mistress traces the rise and rise of the gorgeous Emma Hamilton. Born into poverty, she clawed her way up through London's underworlds of sex for sale to become England's first media superstar. Nothing could stand in her way of her desire to live out her dream- except her self-destructive desires. Drawing on hundreds of previously undiscovered letters, and told with a novelist's flair, "England's Mistress" captures the relentless drive, innovative style and burning passion of a true heroine. In a world of tabloid fame and three-minute wonders, Emma's life is truly a tale for our time.

Critics Review

This rich and bouncy biography of a driven woman – mad for fashion, mad on passion – makes Posh look like a novice.

Good Housekeeping

Sparkling like Emma’s pawned diamonds … Finally makes us understand why Nelson needed to be prised out of Emma’s embrace to fight Napoleon…

Daily Mail

It is the thoroughness of the research and attention to detail that make Kate Williams’ new biography of Emma Hamilton so interesting. The iconic Emma has been continuously reimagined since her lover Nelson’s death, but Williams offers a new portrait.

Independent

Kate Williams has done a wonderful job recreating the life of the woman she wants us to relate to…This is an immensely colourful, readable portrait that revels in Emma’s resilience and her ability to surmount what look to us now to be unimaginable odds.

Independent on Sunday

Gallops along like a gripping novel, with an utterly believable and sympathetic character at its heart

Chesire Life

Reveals the woman behind the myths

Northern Echo

Utterly absorbing … tantalizing

City AM

A wonderful sparkling biography

Amanda Foreman, author of GEORGIANA: DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE

In this pacey retelling of a classic love story, Kate Williams has created a sparkling life worthy of Emma herself. A new biography for a new generation.

Stella Tillyard, author of A ROYAL AFFAIR

Popular history at its best

David Liss, author of A SPECTACLE OF CORRUPTION

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