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truculence 's review for:
The Bolter: Edwardian Heartbreak and High Society Scandal in Kenya
by Frances Osborne
Ha, a review upon request. As a child, Frances Osborne read a newspaper story about Idina Sackville, known as "The Bolter" for scandalously leaving her fabulously wealthy husband and her two young sons in order to marry another man and move to Kenya, then getting married another three times and generally leading a louche lifestyle that people loved to condemn while discussing all details and rumors. Osborne was then shocked to discover that Idina was her great-grandmother. Thus started a lifetime of fascination, culminating in this book.
This was a really interesting read, and painted a surprisingly detailed portrait of a specific portion of English society--all the naughtiest bits, I suppose. I guess I am naive, but even after reading "The Perfect Summer" (Frances Osborne's book about the summer of 1911), I assumed that rampant extramarital affairs were about the limit of scandalous upper-crust sexual behavior. So wrong. This book doesn't spend excessive time detailing Idina's sexual practices, but enough that any naivete I had is thoroughly destroyed, ha.
The only thing that I think is lacking from the book is a window into what the heck Idina was thinking. Osborne speculates well, and probably accurately, on why Idina did what she did, but she understandably doesn't have a lot to work with to explain why--understandable not only because there simply weren't many sources detailing Idina's private thoughts, but because I doubt Idina knew her own motivations. In that sense, it's a very tragic book; for all Idina's fame and allure, she seems to have been profoundly lonely, and regretted the original bolting late in life. But it's a fascinating read, and not overly depressing--I definitely recommend it.
This was a really interesting read, and painted a surprisingly detailed portrait of a specific portion of English society--all the naughtiest bits, I suppose. I guess I am naive, but even after reading "The Perfect Summer" (Frances Osborne's book about the summer of 1911), I assumed that rampant extramarital affairs were about the limit of scandalous upper-crust sexual behavior. So wrong. This book doesn't spend excessive time detailing Idina's sexual practices, but enough that any naivete I had is thoroughly destroyed, ha.
The only thing that I think is lacking from the book is a window into what the heck Idina was thinking. Osborne speculates well, and probably accurately, on why Idina did what she did, but she understandably doesn't have a lot to work with to explain why--understandable not only because there simply weren't many sources detailing Idina's private thoughts, but because I doubt Idina knew her own motivations. In that sense, it's a very tragic book; for all Idina's fame and allure, she seems to have been profoundly lonely, and regretted the original bolting late in life. But it's a fascinating read, and not overly depressing--I definitely recommend it.