Publisher
:
Calmann-Lévy
Parution date
:
2002
EAN
:
9782702132746
Description
This is a highly entertaining anecdotal biography of Lady Hamilton, based on her correspondence and the many letters, paintings, diary entries, and news articles of the day. Assembled here and artfully woven, they give a vivid, loving, and living, portrait of a most unusual heroine. Born in 1765 on a little island between Wales and Ireland, she grew up without a father and in the sole care of her illiterate mother, Mary. Little Emily, or Emma as she was known, could not have predicted what life had in store for her. By the age of sixteen, as was not uncommon for a young girl of her background, she had been a housekeeper, street-vendor, servant, and nurse-maid. Then one day she was noticed by the eager but dull young Londoner Greville, and came to live in the city as his mistress. It is there that she began to gain notoriety for her exceptional beauty and for the performances she would spontaneously put on at any social occasion. These performances of singing and mimicry became the talk of London. Much as Greville profited from her as a companion, in the end he saw her as a bit of an embarrassment and a luxury he could no longer afford. She was practically bartered after a few years to his uncle, Lord William Hamilton. The British ambassador to Naples, Lord Hamilton fell in love with Emma, and after several years of living together in an arrangement not quite acceptable to the social circles Hamilton traveled in, he decided to marry her. Thirty years her senior, Hamilton did not flinch when in 1793 Emma in turn fell in love with Horatio Nelson, the heroic young captain. The back-drop for their love is the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, the fall of Naples to the French, Napoleon rising, and as if that were not enough, the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius.
Author
Gilbert Sinoué : Gilbert Sinoué is both a writer and a historian. Born in Cairo, where he lived until the age of 18, he arrived in France in 1968. He is the best-selling author of 17 novels, essays, and biographies.
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