Jehanne Wake

This transatlantic celebration of sisterhood is a most gripping and fascinating tale, both scholarly and a page turner

A rollicking good read, told with verve and compassion

Fluent and lively... the lives and times of the Caton sisters make not simply a very good story but one with louder resonances in the social and political history of the period

Vividly paints a fascinating picture of a transatlantic world where rich women could achieve extraordinary social power by sticking with their sisters and being shrewd with their money

Splendid...she illustrates the propulsions of social history - from the Canadian fur trade to the battle of Waterloo and growth of the railways... Jehanne Wake has uncovered, and animated, a whole new world

A fascinating exploration of the attitude to money shown by two different cultures', 'In a market currently dominated by "bodice biographies", it is a rare pleasure to find a biography about the bodices who once dominated the market

A whirlwind of colourful social history and rich characters

A beguiling account of high society told with authority and style

As good as the author's previous biography of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and that is saying a great deal

The sisters' story emerges from their letters, spiced in Jehanne Wake's entertaining narrative with aristocratic gossip and succinct accounts of (such) half-forgotten history

Wake has crafted an entertaining story, based on research of several letters from the period, about the sisters, their loves, lives and ambitions...as a historical account it comes recommended

The First American Heiresses to Take England by Storm

The Caton sisters were Southern belles descended from the first settlers in Maryland, and were expected to 'marry a Plantation'. But they were independent, fascinated by politics, clever with money, romantic in mood. Arriving In London in 1816 the three sisters forged their own destinies in the face of intense prejudice, against both Americans and Catholics. The widowed Marianne shocked the world by marrying the Wellington's wayward elder brother, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and appearing as a 'Catholic Yankee' among the Protestant Anglo-Irish. Louisa eventually became Duchess of Leeds, and a friend of Queen Victoria, while the sphere in which Bess shone was the stockmarket, as queen of speculators.<br/>
<br/>
Based on intimate unpublished letters, <i>Sisters of Fortune</i> is a brilliant portrait of love between sisters, a most unusual story of money and power and a fascinating glimpse of how these extraordinary women influenced the social and international relations of their time.

Jehanne Wake

Praise for Sisters of Fortune

This transatlantic celebration of sisterhood is a most gripping and fascinating tale, both scholarly and a page turner

A rollicking good read, told with verve and compassion

Fluent and lively... the lives and times of the Caton sisters make not simply a very good story but one with louder resonances in the social and political history of the period

This transatlantic celebration of sisterhood is a most gripping and fascinating tale, both scholarly and a page turner

A rollicking good read, told with verve and compassion

Fluent and lively... the lives and times of the Caton sisters make not simply a very good story but one with louder resonances in the social and political history of the period

This transatlantic celebration of sisterhood is a most gripping and fascinating tale, both scholarly and a page turner

A rollicking good read, told with verve and compassion

Fluent and lively... the lives and times of the Caton sisters make not simply a very good story but one with louder resonances in the social and political history of the period

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