Lady of Passion

October 15, 2013
If there is one thing life has taught Mary Darby Robinson, it is that you can never really count on a man. As a child, Mary observed how horribly her father treated her mother. Mary's feckless first husband, Tom Robinson, not only insisted that she give up her long-held dream of becoming an actress, he also gambled away their money and openly consorted with other women during their marriage. Forced to turn to the stage to support herself and her child, Mary is surprised when her acting draws the notice of the Prince of Wales. As it turns out, however, the prince is more interested in Mary than in her rendition of Perdita from A Winter's Tale. Mary soon finds herself giving up everythingher career, her marriage, and her independencefor the prince's declaration of undying love, only to find that a royal's word is like pie crust: easily broken. Lightfoot carefully embroiders her latest absorbing novel with plenty of fascinating historical details about the hopes and heartbreaks of the real Mary Robinson.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)