Helpful Score: 1
Well written biography of a woman whose exploits were immortalized by writers and artists. She was considered a bolter----a woman who broke the rules and fled her marriage. Good information about women and divorce in Edwardian London and also the settling of whites in Kenya. Also explores the pain she had with five marriages and for someone to really love her. I would recommend this one.
I didn't expect to like this book, because I understood it was written by a family member. Therefore I more or less expected it to be too mushy, or possibly defensive. Boy, was I wrong - it's not only well-written, but the author sympathetically brought her great-grandmother back to life, yet maintained throughout a historian's distance and control. Every aspect of the fascinating life of THE BOLTER is explored - her character, her travels, her tastes, her many marriages. Anglophiles and lovers of "scandale" will really enjoy this biography.
I found this book overrated. I found Idina Sackville more pathetic than "intoxicating" (as one review said). Perhaps because I am familiar with the era I didn't find her story very compelling. For a book about the murder of Lord Erroll, I would recommend "White Mischief."
Reading the book for what the subject is and not judging the woman I loved THE BOLTER. True biography. Having never heard this term before I found this book quite interesting, I loved the era, it was very well written and yes i'd recommend it to those interested in this era & i'd diffently read it again someday.
