The Diamond of London
Though Lady Hester Stanhope led a uniquely adventurous life, Penrose focuses this fictional biography on the years 1799-1810, when Hester makes a splash in London as a debutante and then secretary, hostess, and right hand for her uncle, William Pitt the Younger, during his hard-pressed years as prime minister. Standing out from her influential, well-connected family, and escaping her controlling father, Hester rubs elbows with powerful men and women, including the Duchess of Devonshire and Caroline Herschel, who inspires Hetty to make the most of her own talents.
It’s a difficult task to map a dramatic structure onto a real life, and early chapters, like young Hetty, feel a bit unmoored as Beau Brummell tutors her on how to be roughish yet sophisticated. The theme of society’s restrictions on women is pealed often but begins to ring hollow as Hetty makes no real sacrifices for propriety’s sake, nor is she punished for her passions.
Penrose’s research is solid, and the book touches on several political discords of the day, but tension flags as Hetty has no driving ambition of her own. Instead, suspense centers on her love affairs, first with her cousin, Camelford, then the charming and feckless Granville Leveson-Gower, whose casual jilting leads a desperate Hetty to attempt suicide. At last, she finds a deeper adult love with Lieutenant-General John Moore, a noble and virtuous hero who won this reader’s heart along with Hetty’s, but Napoleon’s increasing belligerence draws Moore to Portugal and another heartbreak for our heroine.
Despite the loose sense of structure, the novel deftly frames the political currents of early 19th-century Britain from the perspective of a well-placed woman. Readers will enjoy the texture of detail and historical events providing a rich setting to a life that is, by any measure, fascinating and memorable.
