GEORGIANA Duchess of Devonshire

The biography of this ancestor of Princess Diana provides powerful insights into three social issues still debated today: gambling addiction, women in politics, and sexual morality among the rich. Georgiana struggled mightily with all three, and Amanda Foreman successfully integrates them to present a woman of great depth. Virginia Leishman achieves a perfect blend of scholastic presentation with compassionate portrayal, reading the letters of Georgiana and her contemporaries as convincing dialog. Leishman even changes her performance of Georgiana to reflect her age and health. In an author's interview on the last tape, Foreman speaks of becoming so involved with her subject that she actually burst into tears reading a back stabbing letter from one of Georgiana’s friends. Leishman completely captures Foreman's attachment, as well as the reader's attention from beginning to end. R.P.L. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 01]