Emma : My Lord Admiral's Mistress

by F.W. Kenyon

History has produced few women as fascinating as the auburn-haired beauty, Emma, Lady Hamilton, who captured the heart of England's greatest admiral, Lord Nelson. Warmhearted, impulsive, amoral, she distributed her favors generously, mistaking gratitude and affection for love, rising with each of her "protectors" to her ultimate position of power in the glittering court at Naples-until she at last met the one man she was to love intensely and forever. If ever two lovers were destined for each other, they were Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson, that passionate, brilliant woman, and that dynamic, heroic man.

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Frank Wilson Kenyon (July 6, 1912-February 6, 1989) was a New Zealand novelist.
Frank Wilson Kenyon spent his childhood in Lancashire, England, until his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was twelve years old. There, his father ran a grocery shop and Kenyon started to discover some of the writers who would later influence his own work, including Dickens, Maupassant, Somerset Maugham and H.G. Wells. After leaving school, he worked in a department store before moving to London for two years in his early twenties to develop a writing career. He wrote many historical novels, particularly about famous women in history.

Reviews

[Diane McGyver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma, the hardcover version of 1955, by F. W. Kenyon was a light read. It follows the life of widow Mrs. Emma Hart, who turned out not to be a widow. She had started creating her life at an early age, and this was one of the outcomes: a self-proclaimed widow without a marriage or a dead husband. Some might paint her as a scheming woman who used her beauty to climb the ranks of society; others might paint her as a victim of the times and of men who used women for their own purposes. I believe she was a little of both: a victim at first, then learning the hard lessons of life, a schemer who saw what her feminine persuasion could get her: a comfortable life.

It’s a good story that has somewhat withstood the test of time. Emma is the Lady Hamilton of history, the woman who bedded the married Lord Nelson. Given that she started as a simple street girl in old London and had become the prestigious woman she had, I’d say she did quite well for herself in a time when few escaped the poverty they were born into.

[Delia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should have never been written and I'm more than half tempted to burn it in my fireplace. So why did I bother reading it in its entirety? I don't know where this book came from. It's been on the family bookshelf for as long as I can remember, and when I moved out on my own, I brought the atrocity along with me. Well, I finally read it and I will consider it a service to humanity that this particular copy never gets looked at again. Why the hate? I mean, the writing itself isn't terrible and it is only about 300 pages. But Emma. GODDAMN EMMA. I've never disliked a main character more. She came from nothing and used her beauty and body to secure herself a place in upper English society. She's vain, manipulative, has absolutely no regard for other people's emotions or wallets and yet prides herself on all the good she did for her country. Gag me. Decent ending though. She's left pretty much penniless and alone.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

An almost forgotten writer of historical fiction, Kenyon brings the life of Lady Emma Hamilton to life. Not a literal biography it is highly fictionalized with dialogue that reads like a novel bringing the characters to life, not just wooden figures from a turbulent time over two hundred years ago. Any London tourist will know Horatio Nelson because of Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s monument but know nothing of his beloved Emma.
I rescued this book from my mother’s library upon her move to a retirement home in 2006, but it languished in mine for another 17 before I picked it up. But what will happen to it now, and Kenyon himself for that matter, another piece of period writing by a middle brow but effective writer lost to readers of 2023.

[Nicole Graham · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a depressing book. I just finished Robert Southy’s Lord Nelson and thought this would be an interesting companion book. I mean the whole premise of the book is infidelity, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that I didn’t like it, but it never shows the difference between right and wrong, just as an optional choice. The end is sad so I guess it shows the results of her choices.
It humanizes Lord Nelson a little bit, so that made it interesting, but why, why do I want to read a book showing so little moral background?

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book about the 'career' of Emma Hamilton, from uneducated unwed mother to wife of Lord Hamilton to mistress of Horatio Nelson and mother of his child. It leaned a little too much to the 'romance' sort of book, although it seemed to be well researched as far as I could tell. Although I mildly enjoyed it, I had no trouble putting it down, and I am not likely to read it again (luckily it was borrowed from a friend!)

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 1 out of 5]

D. fiction, historical fiction, England, 19th c., Lady Hamilton, from stash, discard

[Doodles McC · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a child I really liked this historical novel Emma, Lady Hamilton, who captured the heart of Lord Nelson. Kenyon books are always enjoyable and easily read.

[AnneMarieG1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fictionalized account of the life of Emma, Lady Hamilton, begins with her teen years. Published in 1955, it's still a very readable and entertaining book by today's standards. However, that doesn't necessarily make it a good book. The author valiantly tried to chronicle that "what made Emma so unique she was able to rise to the heights of Georgian society from very humble beginnings." In some places I think the story was successful; in others, not so much. Still, it's an entertaining book, although (for me) it's not a keeper.

An additional thought: It's always interesting to me when I see women hate on Emma for her infidelity and manipulation without serving up equal condemnation for the men who were just as manipulative and just as willing to trade sex for favors. (The first chapter is all about two grown men who want to have sex with a 16-year-old girl. Where's the outrage over that?) When I read such reviewer comments I'm reminded that for all our progress, women are still judged more quickly and more harshly than men, just as they were in the seventeenth century.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book!