The No1 Ethical retailer for Books, CD’s, DVD’s & Games
30 Day Refund Guarantee

Beautiful For Ever: Madame Rachel of Bond Street - Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer

Beautiful For Ever: Madame Rachel of Bond Street - Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer

by HelenRappaport (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2012

    $9.05
Synopsis

Madame Rachel had everything: a Mayfair address, the title of 'purveyor to Her Majesty the Queen', a shop full of exotic, expensive creams and potions. Her clientele were aristocratic, rich - and gullible. This is the true story of Madame Rachel who began life as a poor fish fryer in a disease-ridden, grubby corner of Victorian London. She ended up with a shop in New Bond Street, where her wealthy clients came in their droves, lured by the promise of eternal beauty. What they found there was a con-woman and fraudster who made a career out of lies, treachery and the desperate hopes of women wanting to be 'beautiful for ever'. Beautiful For Ever is a thrilling tale of love affairs, scandal, blackmail, high-profile court cases, suicide and fraud, with the extraordinary Madame Rachel right at the centre of it all.

$9.05

Save:$2.78 (24%)

Quantity

2 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 320
 Publisher: Vintage
Published: 03 May 2012
ISBN 10: 0099570130
ISBN 13: 9780099570134
Book Overview: The scandalous tale of Madame Rachel - celebrated beautician to the rich and famous of Victorian London, con-artist and convicted blackmailer.

Media Reviews
A remarkable story... Rappaport handles her scandalous Victorian melodrama with energy and aplomb, and produces a richly entertaining portrait of the seamy side of 19th century society * Daily Mail *
Madame Rachel's story, which has been superbly researched by Rappaport, is intriguing in itself [and] sheds a fascinating light on the ladies of Victorian society * Daily Telegraph *
Beautiful For Ever is one of those un-put-downable surprises that makes reading worthwhile... This book has the same mix of forensic investigation and light touch that makes Kate Summerscale's books so interesting * Big Issue *
Speaks volumes about vanity and Victorian attitudes to women -- Sophie Morris * Independent *
[Beautiful For Ever] is, blissfully, proof that there is still simply nothing quite like a good Victorian scandal. Rappaport excels again in this thoroughly researched account of Madame Rachel...this is a well-paced read that tells us something about the modern obsession with appearance while remaining deliciously Victorian at its core * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *
Author Bio
Helen Rappaport read Russian Special Studies at Leeds University and was an actress in TV and films before moving into publishing. She worked as a freelance editor for academic publishers before becoming a full time writer in 1998, specialising in Victorian social history and the Russian Revolution. She is the author of No Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War, Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs and Conspirators: Lenin in Exile. Helen Rappaport lives in Oxford. www.helenrappaport.com.