Mistress of My Fate

'A remarkable picture of a fascinating age' DAILY EXPRESS'A full-blooded historical' INDEPENDENTFor fans of BBC TV's hit series HARLOTS_____________________ Born out of wedlock in eighteenth-century England, Henrietta Lightfoot has forever been dogged by scandal. Determined to extinguish the lies spread by her outraged aristocratic relations, she has taken to the pen in this sensational confessional of a woman's journey from wide-eyed na ve to earthly libertine.London, 1789. Leaving behind her treasured books, Henrietta flees her schoolroom in the countryside and falls face first into a city of rakes, rogues, wits and courtesans. It is not long before she must confront an inescapable fact: if she is to find true liberty in this world designed for men, she will have to do so the hard way.In this riveting and riotous novel, Rubenhold gloriously illuminates the dark lives of the women written out of 18th century literature by the great male writers. Vibrant and full-blooded, it is an unputdownable picaresque for our times.