{"product_id":"tangled-souls-love-and-scandal-among-the-victorian-aristocracy-hardcover","title":"Tangled Souls: Love and Scandal Among the Victorian Aristocracy - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJane Dismore\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'With painstaking skill, Dismore lays bare the double standards of the Souls' Artemis Cooper\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Harry Cust has long needed to emerge from the shadows. A rich tapestry unfolds' Hugo Vickers\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutrageously handsome, witty and clever, Harry Cust was reputed to be one of the great womanizers of the late Victorian era. In 1893, while a Member of Parliament, he caused public scandal by his affair with artist and poet Nina Welby Gregory. When she revealed she was pregnant, horror swept through their circle known as 'the Souls', a cultured, mostly aristocratic group of writers, artists and politicians who also rubbed shoulders with luminaries such as Oscar Wilde and H. G. Wells.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the unconventional Margot Tennant and philosopher-statesman Arthur Balfour at their center, the dazzling Souls eschewed the formalities of upper-class etiquette, valuing conversation and clever games above gambling and racing. Talented and glamorous women such as Violet Granby and Ettie Grenfell joined rising politicians George Curzon and George Wyndham at grand country houses to talk, play and flirt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePassions raged behind their courtly code. Married Souls discreetly bore their lovers' children - and public figures got away with much worse - yet bachelor Harry's seduction of a single woman of the same class broke the rules. For the rest of their lives, Harry and Nina would fight to rebuild their reputations and maintain the marriage they were pressurized to enter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eTangled Souls\u003c\/i\u003e, acclaimed biographer Jane Dismore tells the tumultuous story of the romance which threatened to tear apart this distinguished group of friends, revealing pre-war society at its most colorful and most conflicted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJane Dismore \u003c\/b\u003eis a freelance historian and biographer. Her books include \u003ci\u003eDuchesses\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e Princess: The Early life of Elizabeth II, \u003c\/i\u003e a source for the recent ITV and PBS documentary \u003ci\u003eOur Queen in Wartime\u003c\/i\u003e. She is a former practicing solicitor and a member of the Society of Authors and the Biographers' Club.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 326\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.7 x 8.7 x 6.6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 31, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42170306461831,"sku":"9780750996624","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/632c096b7d5a8f718f3619d3c03ad38d.webp?v=1733347284","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/tangled-souls-love-and-scandal-among-the-victorian-aristocracy-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}