From Library Journal

The story of Edward VII and his longtime mistress, Alice Keppel?summoned to his bedside by Queen Alexandra herself as the king lay dying?is well known; what is less familiar is that Keppel's daughter, Violet Trefusis, nourished a lifelong passion for author Vita Sackville-West. Lovers for a few tempestuous years, they eventually split?Vita to domesticity with her husband, children, and garden (and occasional flings with other women), Violet to a flamboyant Continental existence. Readers of Nigel Nicholson's Portrait of a Marriage, the biography of his parents, Vita and diplomat Harold Nicholson, will see a different side of this tale. Biographer Souhami (Greta and Cecil, HarperSanFrancisco, 1994) creates a good historical view based on original letters and papers; she brings to present-day readers an interesting aspect of Edwardian times?stable marriages that included lovers of both sexes. Royal-watchers of today might find it amusing to know that Alice Keppel's daughter Sonia (Violet's sister) was the grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles. For all readers.?Katharine Garstka, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Of all the mistresses of Britain's Edward VII, both during his long tenure as Prince of Wales and his brief reign as king (1901^-10), the most renowned, most permanent, and most respected was Mrs. Alice Keppel. Mrs. Keppel (who, by the way, was the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles, mistress of the present Prince of Wales) had two daughters. Violet, the elder, became somewhat famous herself as a personality and a writer. Souhami's riveting book is about what made Mrs. Keppel tick and the consequences of her celebrity and larger-than-life personality on Violet, growing up in her shadow. It was not easy for Violet, "for given a mother so endowed, luminous, desired and resplendent, it was difficult to feel as lovable, good-looking or successful." Violet tried to emulate--no, duplicateMrs. Keppel but always fell short. "[Violet] knew the moves and attitudes but her performance was caricature." A discerning dual biography and peek into Edwardian mores that popular history readers will certainly enjoy. Brad Hooper

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