Nearly two centuries before Lady Diana Spencer captured the attention of the media of her day, another Spencer woman made waves and headlines in London. Georgiana was the daughter of John, 1st Earl Spencer, and his wife Georgiana Poyntz. Young Georgiana was beautiful, wealthy and well-connected and she needed a marriage to enhance her status and that of her family. She was married to the wealthiest man in England, William Cavendish, later 5th Duke of Devonshire, and the pattern for beautiful Spencer women in unhappy marriages played out on the public stage for the first time. Georgiana had everything she could wish for, money, clothes, jewels, an unshakeable place in Society. But her husband was in love with another woman and, in fact, that woman lived with them in an uncomfortable ménage a trois. Georgiana also consoled herself with a few casual relationships, but knew that, if she were discovered, social ruin would follow. Indeed, she nearly brought herself to ruin several times with poor choices in men, and an addiction to gambling. A prominent hostess and socialite, her home at Devonshire House was the social hub of the Tory Party for many years. She was also an author in her own right.

Foreman captures this world for us in her book. The manners, ways and who's who of Regency society has always been a complicated subject to modern readers, but she sets Georgiana in her context. Everything from the strange Devonshire family's peculiar way of speaking, labeled the Devonshire House drawl, to the networks in which Georgiana manipulated society and politics, and her own personal life. Nobody knows for sure whether Diana consciously followed her great-grandmother's model or not, but the similarities are too palpable to ignore. Foreman touches on these without being too heavy-handed. If you are looking for more information about Diana, but are tired of the same old story, view her story again against the backdrop of her great-grandmother's life and you'll gain a fresh perspective.Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire