Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox 1740-1832

Rating:
Summary: A most enjoyable book
Review: I have to confess that I haven't read much history at all. I found this book in my parents library and borrowed it. I was sceptical, but since I was in between books I gave it a try. I couldn't put it down. Tillyard really knows how to tell a story and at the same time she succeeds in learning us a lot about the political landscape and culture of the time. I can fully recommed this well-written and interesting book

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story of aristocratic 18th century family.
Review: Living in Ireland as I do one is surrounded by historical buildings.I was familiar with Leinster House,Carton House and Castletown House already and found this book has made those old houses far more interesting.Having finished the book I decided to visit Celbridge,Co. Kildare,which is where one finds Castletown House and also the house where Sarah lived.
Driving along the main street of the village I turned off towards Tea Lane and halfway up I saw Sarah`s house,now part of a school.Just up the road was the graveyeard where Louisa is buried but the gates were locked.I went back down the main street to the end of the village and drove along an avenue of trees to Castletown House.It is almost 300 years old and the Irish government has spent seven million euros or dollars to conserve it.Much work remains to be done but I really felt close to Louisa,Emily and Sarah after my visit there.If you plan to visit an ancient Irish house I suggest you read Aristocrats and then go to Castletown.Carton House in nearby and is now becoming part of a golf course.Leinster House is the seat of the Irish parliament and The White House is reputed to be modelled on it.
Of the women themselves I found Caroline the most sophisticated and interesting.I was really struck by how much pain each suffered during their lives.Emily buried 12 of her 22 children and they were not all babies either,so one appreciates modern medicine more after reading about such mortality.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully written history for the general reader
Review: Stella Tillyard does an amazing job bringing the Lennox sisters to life. I felt as though I knew each sister quite well once I had finished the book---and I only wished I could have spent even more time with them.
Sarah Lennox's story was undoubtedly the most interesting (early on she was tapped as a possible wife for George III, she then fell into an unhappy marriage, embarked on a scandalous affair, was divorced, and then ultimately found happiness with a man who came from a social background beneath hers). Lennox's comment that "she only knew true happiness after the age of 36" was especially poignant after reading abt her privileged upbringing. Despite her unhappiness, Lennox managed to live life to the fullest.
In fact, all of the sisters managed to live life to the fullest---from Caroline who eloped with the radical Henry Fox to Emily who passed through all of the stages of marriage (from happiness to dissatisfaction which ultimately caused her to have an affair).
I can't recommend this book too highly---my only regret after reading it was that I would never be able to meet and hang out with any of the Lennox sisters!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully written history for the general reader
Review: The Lennox sisters were the great-granddaughters of King Charles II. As the daughters of one of the most powerful Dukes in eighteenth century England, they occupied the heights of London society. Stella Tillyard has dug into their old papers and letters and reconstructed their lives. Although they were women of privilege, they were in close, sometimes truly intimate, contact with the social and political forces sweeping through Britain and Ireland. Their personal lives were deep and passionate, and they displayed an independence of thought and action which must have been truly revolutionary in their own time. They had long, and for the most part happy lives which are fascinating to follow, especially when we remember that they were the distant great-aunts of another passionate and independent woman, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Rating:
Summary: Immensely satisfying
Review: These are the life stories of four remarkable women,the Lennox sisters,daughters of the 2nd Duke of Richmond and great grandaughters of Charles 2nd of Great Britain and his mistress Louise de Keroualle, and was taken from the thousands of letters which circulated amongst them over their lifetimes.The author,Stella Tillyard has meticulously recounted not only the letters but also the social customs,fashions in clothing and house decorating and the whole way of life amongst the aristocrats of London and Dublin of that era which spans the years of the reigns of George 2nd,George 3rd and the Prince Regent. Each of these sisters lived an extraordinary life,having been educated far and above the usual standard required of upper class young women of their day.There is quite a bit of English political history included in the book,but although this can get a bit ponderous at times,doesn't distract from the overall story.I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward,eagerly,to the t.v. series.

Rating:
Summary: Immensely satisfying
Review: These are the life stories of four remarkable women,the Lennox sisters,daughters of the 2nd Duke of Richmond and great grandaughters of Charles the second of England and his mistress,Louise de Keroualle,and was taken from the thousands of letters which circulated amongst them over their lifetimes. The author,Stella Tilyard has meticulously recounted not only the letters,but also the social customs,fashions in clothing and house decorating and the whole way of life amongst the aristocrats of London and Dublin of that era which spans the years of the reigns of George 2nd,George 3rd and the Prince Regent. Each of these sisters lived an extraordinary life,having been educated far above the usual standard required of upper class young women of their day.There is quite a bit of English political history included in the book(which is why I deducted one star),but although this can get a bit ponderous at times,doesn't distract from the overall story.I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing the t.v.series.

Rating:
Summary: AN EXCELLENT READ IF YOU UNDERSTAND A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Review: This is an excellent book and a fast read. Stella Tillyard captures an age and the people who lived it as though she were there herself. I would give this book a 5 but for one serious flaw I find in many a book. Is the author trying to impress her audience with her vast knowledge of French? Or simply trying to
punish those of us with less then her education (in languages).
There are examples on page after page, paragraph after paragraph
where the author quotes one of many letters in French, with NO translation. I often think authors do this to impress.
Sorry, I don't speak French. Her audience it seems is mostly English speaking, so why leave the reader hanging wondering just what was said. That doesn't help make the story more understandable. It detracts. If it were only once or 2wice I could look up a translation somewhere. But in this book it happens so often it would take far too long. The wonder is why she bothered with English at all.

Rating:
Summary: AN EXCELLENT READ IF YOU UNDERSTAND A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Review: This is an excellent book and a fast read. Stella Tillyard captures an age and the people who lived it as though she were there herself. I would give this book a 5 but for one serious flaw I find in many a book. Is the author trying to impress her audience with her vast knowledge of French? Or simply trying to
punish those of us with less then her education (in languages).
There are examples on page after page, paragraph after paragraph
where the author quotes one of many letters in French, with NO translation. I often think authors do this to impress.
Sorry, I don't speak French. Her audience it seems is mostly English speaking, so why leave the reader hanging wondering just what was said. That doesn't help make the story more understandable. It detracts. If it were only once or 2wice I could look up a translation somewhere. But in this book it happens so often it would take far too long. The wonder is why she bothered with English at all.

Rating:
Summary: Like a Gainsborough painting brought to life
Review: Tillyard's book brings to life a composite portrait of four of the most glorious demimondaines of the eighteenth century, all four of whom led lives of incredible brilliance and sparkle. One of the sisters was the Duchess of Leinster; another married Fox; a third was the beloved of George III before he had to give way to politics and marry a German princess of much less beauty and vivacity. This book does a fine job brining to life the intricate world of the highest crust of Georgian aristocracy--it's a splendid follow-up for any who have enjoyed GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE.

Rating:
Summary: History which is as good as a novel
Review: When I lived in England some years ago I read this book and recommended it to a dear friend who was incontestably an "Aristocrat" in every sense that it's used in Britain. My friend said that she was reading it, too, and though she could barely bring herself to pronounce the name of the book (which she considered embarassing), she loved it because it perfectly evoked the 18th century as history, and yet was as engrossing a page-turner as a novel. Stella Tillyard gets it just right in her fine quadruple biography. Buy it!