Cavendish Georgiana

The Sylph, Volume I and II - The Original Classic Edition

Cavendish Georgiana

This book is a great read! It provides a glimpse into the life and times of the du monde of the period. <p> You will love this woman after reading her story, and will be very intrigued by the beginning, when Georgina writes in a males perspective. <p> The Duchess of Devonshires second book, first published in 1778, chronicles the life of a young, newly married lady of high society not unlike its author. Written in epistolary format, the story follows Julia from her idyllic country life to her marriage to a rich aristocrat. She soon discovers her husband is nothing other than a rake, spending all his and her money on gambling and mistresses. Without the protection of a husband, soon others come on the scene, intent on taking advantatge of young and naive Julia. An anonymous guardian, in the guise of The Sylph, writes to her, giving her guidance through her troubles…but will it be enough? <p> This scholarly edition of The Sylph provides fresh insights into the lives of aristocratic women in the 1770s. The novel by one of the most fashionable women of her age is both a window on upper-class social mores and a roman à clef drawing on the Duchesss own gambling addiction and unconventional domestic arrangements. –Janet Todd, Herbert J.C. Grierson Professor of English Literature, University of Aberdeen <p> Once praised as ingenious and condemned as obscene, The Sylph is, in fact, a fascinating insiders view of the life of the British ruling class, penned by one of the most gifted and troubled women of the eighteenth century. –Paula R. Feldman, C. Wallace Martin Professor of English, University of South Carolina