Lady Hester: Queen of the East

by Lorna Gibb

Born into the age of revolution, Lady Hester Stanhope had a radical spirit. Following the death of her uncle the Prime Minister William Pitt in 1806, she chose the excitement of travel and adventure over the life of a spinster in polite London society. And she never looked back.
Surviving a terrible shipwreck and the scorn of Lord Byron ('that dangerous thing - a female wit'), Lady Hester adopted male Arabic dress, became the Queen of the Bedouin and was the first European woman ever to enter Palmyra. Recovering from the heartbreak of a passionate love affair, she became a political force in Lebanon. In defiance of despotic war lords she offered sanctuary to an oppressed minority, creating a fortress which became a focus of both gossip and awe.
Based on much new source material and extensive travel in Hester's footsteps, Lady Hester traces the extraordinary life from Downing Street to an isolated monastery in the hills of Lebanon.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

268 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2006

Reviews

[Deirdre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting woman, Lady Hester, but not as interesting and likable as Jane Digby. In fact, I found Hester Stanhope to be exceedingly irritating toward the end, as she most definitely was to those around her. I know the author, Lorna Gibb, was struggling to make the most of Hester's later years in the Middle East interesting, but it was just too repetitive and too like putting up with a tantrum-ridden spoiled brat.

The author needs to do more research on plants. Blackberries grow on bushes, not trees; and mulberries grow on trees, not bushes. Also, one should be cautioned by the term "Thorn Apple" tree. She does not mean the Hawthorne, also known by that name, but the one that is associated with Datura, and that does grow into a tree, Brugmansia, is really more commonly referred to as Angel's Trumpet. Datura Stramonium, a low-growing weed, commonly known as Jimson Weed or Thorn Apple, has a fruit that depicts the name. Both of these plants are highly dangerous, and one of its alkaloids is used in medicine, and is known as scopolamine. There is no mention that Datura was used as the original Mickey Finn to kidnap young men to work on board ships. The drug also causes retrograde amnesia, so the victim couldn't remember how they were absconded, or how they ended up on board a ship. Also, other than the plague, there was no research done to explain some of the ailments prevalent in the areas in which Hester and her entourage were living. What on earth was causing that horrible rash?

In conclusion, even though Lady Hester preceded Jane Digby and Gertrude Bell to the Levant, her story could have been told in in far fewer pages, and the font size could have been much more comfortable to read if it had been larger.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

A hard book to rate. Not badly written, the author has done her best with a truly dull story. It had all the promise in the beginning. A aristocratic female bucking the trend and going her own way. Not only travelling to the Middle East but standing up to the locals and doing so mostly on her own. Unfortunately Lady Hester doesn't have a likable personality and the story became very repetitive without much content. In the end I was willing her to get on and die so that I could finish the book

[Jane Routley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of my reading on adventurous women travellers back in the 1980' and 1990's. Different times.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story of a very brave and independent woman, but also incredibly sad

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biography starts with Hester as an adult and then has a series of flashbacks. It’s unnecessarily complicated and confusing.

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bio of Lady Hester Stanhope, early 19th c. minor aristocrat and oddity. She was William Pitt the Younger’s niece and hostess during his ascendancy, a woman of intelligence and power. However, when he died she lost her footing and was not well placed in “Society”, not least due to her intelligence and independence, although (relative) poverty, plainness, and arrogance also played a part. She left England to travel, eventually finding a kind of place in Lebanon. By no means entirely admirable, she is nevertheless easy to identify with as she struggles against social strictures and political intrigue. It certainly took a creative mind to find such a different path through life.

This book was worth reading for the subject matter, but is not well written. The novice author seems incapable of separating wheat from chaff. As is so often the case with biography, it’s a bit of a slog, sigh.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

The historical content in this biography was very interesting, however it could hardly keep up with everything that was happening. It's great to know about such an inspirational, historical icon. Lady Hester truely is a significant woman. This biography mirrored her life amusingly. A great joy to read. However, the events kept switching too quickly that I couldn't keep up with who the characters were, where she went, and her adventures around the Middle East.
But I do recommend this biography to anyone who is interested in historical genres and historical icons.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hester Stanhope was William Pitt the Younger’s niece who acted as his hostess since he was single when PM. A clever, witty girl she scorned normal female conversation and companionship and after Pitt’s death travelled to Malta, Greece, Turkey and Syria where she settled. A difficult, autocratic and controversial woman, she was nevertheless a real individual who cared for those less fortunate than herself and so ended her days in poverty. Surely the young Hester was the inspiration for The Grand Sophy of Heyer’s book!

[Sarahandus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I know what those references in other books were talking about when they mentioned Lady Hester.
I'm ambivalent about the rating on this book, while it was interesting, I found Lady Hester an arrogant, self centered person who was very hard to care about.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief biography of a remarkable woman, but for me not as compelling a read as I expected.

[sairwahs_me_time · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing woman and an astonishing life.