Synopses & Reviews
Throughout history women have caused wars, defied the rules, and brought men to their knees. The famous and the infamous, queens, divorcées, actresses, and outlaws have created a ruckus during their lifetimes-turning heads while making waves.
Scandalous Women tells the stories of the risk takers who have flouted convention, beaten the odds, and determined the course of world events.
* When Cleopatra (69 BC-30 BC) wasn't bathing in asses' milk, the last pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt and forged an important political alliance with Rome against her enemies-until her dalliance with Marc Antony turned the empire against her.
* Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1748), a mathematician, physicist, author, and paramour of one of the greatest minds in France, Voltaire, shocked society with her unorthodox lifestyle and intellectual prowess-and became a leader in the study of theoretical physics in France at a time when the sciences were ruled by men.
* Long before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1928) fought to end discrimination and the terrible crime of lynching and helped found the NAACP, but became known as a difficult woman for her refusal to compromise and was largely lost in the annals of history.
* Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) had a passion for archaeology and languages, and left her privileged world behind to become one of the foremost chroniclers of British imperialism in the Middle East, and one of the architects of the modern nation of Iraq.
Review
While many of the facts surrounding these lives are familiar, Mahon weaves page-turner narratives from her passion and affection for these spectacular but often misrepresented women. ---Bookpage
Review
Elizabeth Kerri Mahon's Scandalous Women is an invaluable resource of women's studies, pulling back the curtain of embellishment (often woven by the woman being studied herself) to reveal the stark (sometimes literally!) truth behind some of the greatest women of history -- from ancient pillars like Cleopatra and Boudica to more contemporary glass-ceiling shatterers like Amelia Earhart and Gertrude Bell. Perhaps the best I can say is that Elizabeth Kerri Mahon's work is a magnet for the mind, an education for the misinformed, and scandalously delicious. Very recommended. ---The Trades
Review
There are sexual shenanigans here, to be sure, but also plenty of wonderful portraits of women responsible for major events in history – whether directly or through the men who, thinking themselves the controllers, were in fact the ones being controlled. ---InfoDad
Review
Overall, history lite—a very readable flyby of some notables in women’s history.
---Bethany Latham, Historical Novel Society
Review
I was entranced by
Scandalous Women from page one, and it didn’t let lose its hold on me until I had reached the end . . . If you are looking for entertainment as well as facts that will turn many of your preconceived notions inside out, then this is the book for you. Ms. Mahon has done a wonderful job telling the stories of important women throughout history.
---Book Wenches
Review
Praise for Leslie Carrolls Royal Books
“An irresistible combination of People magazine and the History Channel.”—Chicago Tribune (5 Stars)
“Thoroughly enjoyable.”—Booklist
“For those who tackled Hilary Mantels Wolf Hall, and cant get enough of the scandal surrounding Henry VIIIs wives, [Notorious Royal Marriages is] the perfect companion book.”—NewYorker.com
Synopsis
Its no secret that the marriages of monarchs are often made in hell. Here are some of the most spectacular mismatches in five hundred years of royal history.... In a world where many kings, queens, and princes lacked nothing but true love, marital mismatches could bring out the baddest, boldest behavior in the bluest of bloodlines. Margaret Tudor, her niece Mary I, and Catherine of Braganza were desperately in love with chronically unfaithful husbands, but at least they werent murdered by them, as were two of the Medici princesses were. King Charles IIs beautiful, high-spirited sister Minette” wed Louis XIVs younger brother, who wore more makeup and perfume than she did. Forced to wed her boring, jug-eared cousin Ferdinand, Marie of Roumaniaa granddaughter of Queen Victoriaproved herself one of the heroines of World War I by using her prodigious personal charm to regain massive amounts of land during the peace talks at Versailles.
Brimming with outrageous real-life stories of royal marriages gone wrong, this is an entertaining, unforgettable book of dubious matches doomed from the start.
About the Author
Leslie Carroll is the author of several works of historical nonfiction, womens fiction, and, under the pen names Juliet Grey and Amanda Elyot, is a multipublished author of historical fiction. Her nonfiction titles include
Royal Romances,
Royal Pains,
Royal Affairs, and
Notorious Royal Marriages. She is also a classically trained professional actress with numerous portrayals of virgins, vixens, and villainesses to her credit, and is an award-winning audio book narrator.
A frequent commentator on royal romances and relationships, Leslie has been interviewed by numerous publications, including MSNBC.com, USA Today, the Australian Broadcasting Company, and NPR, and she was a featured royalty historian on CBS nightly news in London during the royal wedding coverage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. She also appears as an expert on the love lives of Queen Victoria, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon on the television series The Secret Life of [fill in the name of famous figure]” for Canadas History Channel. Leslie and her husband, Scott, divide their time between New York City and Washington, D.C.