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SHE BOLDLY DECIDED TO BECOME MORE THAN AN ORNAMENT OF VICTORIAN SOCIETY
As a child of the aristocratic ruling class, beautiful and headstrong Abigail Stevenson should have been a creature of unawakened innocence. Instead she had learned from her personal maid what men and women sought with one another and was determined to experience this forbidden pleasure on her own terms.

This was Abigail's first step beyond the pale of society, on a path of passion and indomitable ambition that led from England to the great capitals of Europe, and from the lover who first inflamed her to the extraordinary man who led her to her ultimate fulfillment as an artist, creature and intellectual.

438 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 28, 1979

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Malcolm MacDonald

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5 stars
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13 (17%)
3 stars
32 (42%)
2 stars
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for David Szatkowski.
1,258 reviews
June 25, 2023
This is a good finish to an excellent series. The first three books effectively tell the story of the Stevenson family rise to power and tells the stories (and woes) of the parents. This book focuses on one of the daughters, and in so doing, allows the generations to move and be taken up into the saga. The book is historical fiction, but I don't know how 'accurate' the history is. But that said, the novel stands on its own merits and challenges the reader to think about what it means to be human, to love and to treat others with humanity.
842 reviews3 followers
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July 5, 2019
1864-1894 (sequel) England and Italy about the Stevenson's
447 reviews
September 16, 2021
I'll admit this is the only one in the series that I've read but I really loved this book
Profile Image for Kathleen Kelly.
1,379 reviews130 followers
March 19, 2011
This book is the last in a four novel series of the Stevenson family. The novel tells the story of Abigail Stevenson, a very different woman of her time, interested in being a famous writer, finds herself immersed in the more sordid, but fascinating part of life, including sex, money and greed. A very passionate story of a women who knows what she wants even if it is not the proper thing to do. Malcom Macdonald is a wonderful storyteller and depicts an era that was not all prim and proper. This tale gives us an idea into the early world of writing, publishing and women's rights. Abigail and Annie are both very strong and enigmatic women in a time when women virtually had no say. A wonderful conclusion to this engrossing family saga.
411 reviews
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March 10, 2016
An interesting take on MEN. enlightening about their attitudes and reasons for what they do.. This English born young lady starts out a writer and becomes a painter and spends most of her time in France and Italy before returning returning to England. Slow, but worth the read.
Profile Image for Clara Weinberger.
371 reviews1 follower
August 14, 2014
I enjoy this book. It had mystery, drama and intrigue. Help come from unexpended place take place back in Victorian time.
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