Mrs. Keppel and Her Daughter

"An electrifying study of Mrs. Keppel—famously King Edward VII's mistress—and of her daughter . . . notoriously Vita Sackville-West's lover" ( Daily Telegraph , UK) A New York Times Notable Book  Alice Keppel, the married lover of Queen Victoria's eldest son—and great-grandmother to Camilla Parker-Bowles—was a key figure in Edwardian society. With impeccable discretion, she carried on as the king's mistress while lauding the Royal Family and the institution of marriage. Hers was the acceptable face of adultery. It brought her wealth, power, and status.  Alice's daughter Violet Trefusis had her own long and tempestuous affair—with the author and aristocrat Vita Sackville-West—but it brought very different consequences. Vita left her husband and family to travel abroad with Violet, and their scandalous liaison threatened Violet's social standing and pitted her against her mother.  From memoirs, diaries, and letters, Diana Souhami portrays this fascinating and intense mother/daughter relationship. Her story of these women, their lovers, and their lovers' mothers, highlights Edwardian—and contemporary—duplicity and double standards and goes to the heart of questions about sexual freedoms.