This authoritative and engaging book presents a fascinating portrait of a woman who was variously darling of the London stage, a poet whose work was admired by Coleridge and a mistress to the most powerful men in England, and yet whose fortunes were nevertheless precarious, always on the brink of being squandered through recklessness, excess and passion. She later used his copious love letters for blackmail. About the author (2004) Paula Byrne has a PhD from the University of Liverpool and is the author of a highly-acclaimed study of Jane Austen and the Theatre (Hambledon, 2002). On her release, Mary quickly became one of the most popular actresses of the day, famously playing Perdita in ‘The Winter’s Tale’ for a rapt audience that included the Prince of Wales, who fell madly in love with her. His dissipated lifestyle landed the couple and their baby in debtors’ prison, where Mary wrote her first book of poetry and met lifelong friend Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. After being raised by a middle-class father, Mary was married, at age fourteen, to Thomas Robinson. One of the most flamboyant women of the late-eighteenth century, Mary Robinson’s life was marked by reversals of fortune.

Sex, fame and scandal in the theatrical, literary and social circles of late 18th-century England. After being struck down by paralysis, apparently following a miscarriage, she remade herself yet again, this time as a popular writer who was also admired by the leading intellectuals of the day.įilled with triumph and despair, and then triumph again, the amazing, multifaceted life of “Perdita” is marvelously captured in this stunning biography. Never one to pass up an opportunity, she later used his ardent and numerous love letters as blackmail. On her release, Mary rose to become one of the London theater’s most alluring actresses, famously playing Perdita in The Winter’s Tale for a rapt audience that included the Prince of Wales, who fell madly in love with her. His dissipation landed the couple and their baby in debtors’ prison, where Mary wrote her first book of poetry, gaining her the patronage of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. After being abandoned by her merchant father, who left England to establish a fishery among the Canadian Eskimos, Mary was married, at age fifteen, to Thomas Robinson. One of the most flamboyant free spirits of the late eighteenth century, Mary Robinson led a life that was marked by reversals of fortune. This thoroughly engaging and richly researched book presents a compelling portrait of Mary Robinson–darling of the London stage, mistress to the most powerful men in England, feminist thinker, and bestselling author, described by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as “a woman of undoubted genius.”

Perdita by Paula Byrne