Patsy

The Story of Mary Cornwallis West

Tim Coates author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:6th Sep '04

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Patsy cover

Gorgeous new cover to appeal to fans of Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong For fans of books on royal scandal, biogrpahy and World War One

An account of a scandal and cover up which threatened to unseat the British Government during the First World War.This is the story of Mary Cornwallis-West, who was called Patsy by her family and close friends. Beautiful, exciting, high class and Irish born, she married when she was sixteen and had a long affair with Queen Victoria's son, Edward, the Prince of Wales. Thirty years later, in 1915, a young shell-shocked soldier, Patrick Barrett, was transferred home to North Wales to convalesce, where he was to begin a passionate affair with Patsy. She used her influence to help Patrick find promotion within the army, but, as the casualties of war mounted up, the lurid detail of their relationship was used to shame Patsy and her War Office consorts before parliament and the press. Quoting from documents and letters of the period and using a novelist's imaginative flair, Tim Coates has vividly reconstructed the life and dramatic times of one of the most beautiful society women of the Edwardian era.

'Just abandon oneself to the lively and involving narrative' Sunday Times 'Fascinating ... When Patsy's brave Irish voice is heard, with its singular sound and morality, this book comes fully alive' Daily Telegraph 'Coates traverses the lines between warfare and class welfare, moral and financial bankruptcy and love and desire, offering a book that more than delivers' Good Book Guide 'A highly entertaining read' Sunday Tribune

ISBN: 9780747568728

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

288 pages