Book description
In Regency London, the only way for a woman to succeed is to beat men
at their own game. So when Mary Anne Clarke seeks an escape from her
squalid surroundings in Bowling Inn Alley, she ventures first into the
scurrilous world of the pamphleteers. Her personal charms are such,
however, that before long she comes to the notice of the Duke of York.
With her taste for luxury and power, Mary Anne, now a royal
mistress, must aim higher. Her lofty connections allow her to
establish a thriving trade in military commissions, provoking a
scandal that rocks the government - and brings personal disgrace.
A vivid portrait of overweening ambition, MARY ANNE is set during
the Napoleonic Wars and based on du Maurier's own great-great-grandmother.
Daphne du Maurier (1907-89) was born in London, educated at home and
in Paris, and lived for much of her life in her beloved Cornwall, the
setting for many of her novels. Most of her novels have been bestsellers
and many have been made into films. She is considered one of the most
accomplished novelists of the twentieth century.
