Book description
'I am standing in the dining room of my father's house in Ireland,
gazing up at ten Pakenham family portraits. What thoughts went on behind
those passive, chalky faces? How can I bring them out of the shadows?'
Eliza Pakenham, granddaughter of the seventh Earl of Longford,
chronicles the fortunes of her colourful ancestors against the backdrop
of Napoleonic wars and Irish revolutions. Through her painstaking
research and discovery of hidden records, she unearthed the story of an
extraordinary dynasty peppered with intriguing characters: Kitty,
Duchess of Wellington, kept apart from her love for over a decade; Tom,
second Earl of Longford, who fathered three illegitimate children; and
Ned, the darling of the family, a war hero. Through them we learn of
life in times of peace and war, of the pain of bereavement, and rapid
changes in politics and society. A vivid and absorbing account of a
fascinating generation, brought truthfully to life. Eliza Pakenham
read English at Oxford, was an editor in publishing and is now a writer
and journalist. She is married with three children.
