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A review by sherwoodreads
England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton by Kate Williams
For the longest time, biographical material about Emma Hamilton was difficult to find--either it was repressively short, as befitted a woman "no better than she should be" or else disgustingly salacious. Here's a biography that is sympathetic to women caught in the horrible position of being poor, with few options for earning daily bread.
In the 1770s, when Emma (then Amy) was pretty much on her own, she either had to work under grinding misery for abysmal wages--and could be dismissed on a whim, which she was--or she turned to the theater--or to the streets. Emma worked all three career choices before being taken up by Charles Greville, who kept her while she had another man's baby (she was in her mid-teens), and when he tired of her, passed her off to his older uncle, Sir William Hamilton, who treated her well, fell in love with her, and eventually married her. She proved to be the wife he needed--until Horatio Nelson sailed into port, after which Emma and Nelson became what the other needed, until Nelson's tragic death at Trafalgar. Emma outlived him by a little over ten years.
So much are the basic facts. A great deal was subsequently published about Emma, as she became a celebrity before she ever laid eyes on Nelson. Though she never hid her humble origins, she didn't talk much about them, and about poor women there is scant material, so what we get in the early part of this book is a vivid look at what life in London was like during the mid-century--and a whole lot of guesswork about what might have happened to Emma and her family, and what they might have thought. In fact, all the way through there are a lot of uncited glimpses into minds and motives--usually the playground of the fictioneer.
The book becomes more trustworthy once Emma moves to Naples, about which a great deal is known. Even more vivid is the picture Williams paints of Neopolitan life before and during the French Revolution, and the scary days when Napoleon's forces were on the march toward the south.
Equally descriptive is the Hamilton/Hamilton/Nelson menage, but once again I was surprised to see nothing said about Winifred Gerin's careful work proving that Emma had twins, and that she kept only one of the girls. (There is a reference in the Williams book to one of Nelson's letters that refers to twins, which Williams blithely explains is a sexual reference. Where did she get that?)
So to sum up, I'd say: this eminently readable biography blurs the line between fact and fiction. It does have a splendid biography, and is full of interesting photos.
In the 1770s, when Emma (then Amy) was pretty much on her own, she either had to work under grinding misery for abysmal wages--and could be dismissed on a whim, which she was--or she turned to the theater--or to the streets. Emma worked all three career choices before being taken up by Charles Greville, who kept her while she had another man's baby (she was in her mid-teens), and when he tired of her, passed her off to his older uncle, Sir William Hamilton, who treated her well, fell in love with her, and eventually married her. She proved to be the wife he needed--until Horatio Nelson sailed into port, after which Emma and Nelson became what the other needed, until Nelson's tragic death at Trafalgar. Emma outlived him by a little over ten years.
So much are the basic facts. A great deal was subsequently published about Emma, as she became a celebrity before she ever laid eyes on Nelson. Though she never hid her humble origins, she didn't talk much about them, and about poor women there is scant material, so what we get in the early part of this book is a vivid look at what life in London was like during the mid-century--and a whole lot of guesswork about what might have happened to Emma and her family, and what they might have thought. In fact, all the way through there are a lot of uncited glimpses into minds and motives--usually the playground of the fictioneer.
The book becomes more trustworthy once Emma moves to Naples, about which a great deal is known. Even more vivid is the picture Williams paints of Neopolitan life before and during the French Revolution, and the scary days when Napoleon's forces were on the march toward the south.
Equally descriptive is the Hamilton/Hamilton/Nelson menage, but once again I was surprised to see nothing said about Winifred Gerin's careful work proving that Emma had twins, and that she kept only one of the girls. (There is a reference in the Williams book to one of Nelson's letters that refers to twins, which Williams blithely explains is a sexual reference. Where did she get that?)
So to sum up, I'd say: this eminently readable biography blurs the line between fact and fiction. It does have a splendid biography, and is full of interesting photos.