Acclaimed as the greatest comic actress of her day, Dora Jordan lived a quite different role off-stage as lover to Prince William, third son of George III. Unmarried, the pair lived in a villa on the Thames and had ten children together until William, under pressure from royal advisers, abandoned her. The story of how Dora moved between the worlds of the eighteenth-century theatre and happy domesticity, of her fights for her family and her career makes a classic story of royal perfidy and female courage.

‘The strangest and most sensational story Tomalin has told so far. A miraculously detailed portrait - as brisk, unsentimental, good-humoured and fairminded as its subject.’ Hilary Spurling, Daily Telegraph

‘Compelling, shrewd in its judgements, exceptionally well written, and informed by a vivid sense of the past.’ John Gross, Sunday Telegraph

‘Riveting. Conjures up a rich, alluring period which, in its brittle decadence and love of scandal and flamboyance, often seems closer than the nineteenth century to our own times. The most haunting biography I have read this year.’ Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times

‘Fascinating, affecting. A compelling story and Tomalin tells it with clarity and warmth.’ Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Sunday Times