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Becoming Lola
"What a cracking there's no other way to put it." London Matron. The gripping story of Lola Montez, the notorious Victorian dancer and adventuress who rose to become for decades the most famous woman in the world after Queen Victoria. The story of how she did it ranges from the exotic lands of India to the rough-and-ready Australian Outback, taking in the glittering courts of Europe, the razzmatazz of New York’s Broadway and the California goldfields on the way. This true story of a remarkable woman will fascinate all those who love to discover history’s less travelled roads. "Throughout Becoming Lola I had to remind myself that the story was based on historical fact. It is a fascinating journey following a woman’s single-minded determination to get the very best for herself at all costs." Historical Novel Society "A fascinating read. Lola was such a gutsy character, and Harriet Steel has captured her times and adventures very vividly. It's a must read if you like wild women and strange adventures." Beth Webb, Author of the Star Dancer trilogy
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2010
164 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
Harriet Steel
25 books164 followersHarriet Steel wrote several historical novels before turning to crime with the Inspector de Silva mysteries, inspired by time spent in Sri Lanka (the former Ceylon)). Her work has also appeared in national newspapers and magazines. Visit her website, https://harrietsteel.com/ to sign up to her monthly newsletter for information on new releases and offers.
Harriet is married with two daughters and lives in Surrey. When she’s not writing, she likes reading, long walks and visiting art galleries and museums.
Harriet is married with two daughters and lives in Surrey. When she’s not writing, she likes reading, long walks and visiting art galleries and museums.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 7, 2013
Lola Montez is one of the most interesting characters I've encountered in recent fiction. She starts out as Eliza Gilbert, the beloved daughter of a British officer serving in India. Her father dies, and her mother quickly remarries. Shortly, she is sent back to the U.K. to live with relatives, then on to boarding school.
In boarding school, she finds true happiness, for perhaps the first time since her father died. Her mother shows up one day, announcing that Eliza is to be married to an older officer. She refuses, and elopes with a handsome young officer. Tired of their quarreling, she leaves him, and finds it impossible to survive on her own in London. And so, she heads off to Spain to learn Spanish Dancing. And there, after seeing an amazing gypsy dancer, Eliza casts off Eliza for good, and becomes--once and for all--Lola Montez.
As a dancer, Lola has mixed success--some audiences cheer her, others are indifferent or even hostile. As a person, however, she ravages Europe like a tornado. She loses one dear lover in a duel, has affairs with composer Franz Liszt and author Alexander Dumas (pere), before ensorcelling King Ludwig of Bavaria. He becomes her benefactor, bestowing upon her riches and land, a beautiful home, even naming her Countess of Landsfeld. Her notoriety--and his blind adoration to the point of distraction--eventually led to the Kings abdication and Bavaria's troubles during the 1848 German Revolutions.
Abandoned by her lover/King, she moves back to London, then on to the United States, with a tour of Australia in there as well.
Harriet Steel has written a novel rich in period history, about Lola, who spent her whole life, it seems, trying to send a giant middle-finger gesture to the mother who never loved her. The string of events Lola inspires or witnesses makes for some really nice historical fiction.
Except that "Becoming Lola" is a biography. Eliza Gilbert, Eliza James (her first married name), Lola Montez--all true. All of the famous lovers, lust for money, single-handedly driving a beloved King Ludwig into shameful abdication? Yup. Bavaria's involvement in the 1848 Germanic Revolutions? Unlike other Germanic states where things were bad, in Bavaria, it was pretty much just that Lola was an immoral slut who needed to go.
Most of "Becoming Lola" focuses on her relationship with Ludwig. He is obviously enchanted, and loves Lola deeply. She, in turn, gets to live a rich life, with all the bills paid for by the King's exchequer. The lovely apartment and fine clothing and jewels? Not good enough for Lola. She insists on having an estate, and she nags Ludwig constantly for her title. What she seems incapable of understanding is just how much the Munich citizenry resent and hate her. She is imperious and rude, and treats people like they exist solely to serve her whims. Any affront she encounters, she either draws a dagger from her belt and threatens to kill the offender, or she threatens to have the King throw the offender in prison.
"Becoming Lola" doesn't read at all like a biography. Author Harriet Steel's writing presents biographical facts in the guise of a well-done Historical Romance--a literary spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down. Especially with Ms Steel's presentation, there is nothing dry or scholastic about Lola's life. (Of course, if Sir Isaac Newton had schtupped his way across Europe, causing empires to fall, maybe his biographies would be more entertaining)
Lola's role in King Ludwig's demise reminded me of Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee whose behavior led to the disgraced abdication of England's King Edward VIII. In trying for other comparisons, I came up with Madonna, because Madonna is unparalleled at reinventing herself. That comparison fails, because Madonna has talent as an entertainer. I thought of various Kardashians or Paris Hilton, who are famous only for being famous, but they were born to riches, and don't depend on men for their survival.
Lola Montez undeniably had talent. As a dancer, she was good--even excellent some nights. Her truest talent, however, was forcing herself into a society where she had no claim. For her life's sheer, arrogant audacity--for exploding from kind little Eliza Gilbert to this force of nature--Lola deserved all the fame, riches, sickness, and misery she found. She earned it all.
Brava, Lola!
Highly recommended.
In boarding school, she finds true happiness, for perhaps the first time since her father died. Her mother shows up one day, announcing that Eliza is to be married to an older officer. She refuses, and elopes with a handsome young officer. Tired of their quarreling, she leaves him, and finds it impossible to survive on her own in London. And so, she heads off to Spain to learn Spanish Dancing. And there, after seeing an amazing gypsy dancer, Eliza casts off Eliza for good, and becomes--once and for all--Lola Montez.
As a dancer, Lola has mixed success--some audiences cheer her, others are indifferent or even hostile. As a person, however, she ravages Europe like a tornado. She loses one dear lover in a duel, has affairs with composer Franz Liszt and author Alexander Dumas (pere), before ensorcelling King Ludwig of Bavaria. He becomes her benefactor, bestowing upon her riches and land, a beautiful home, even naming her Countess of Landsfeld. Her notoriety--and his blind adoration to the point of distraction--eventually led to the Kings abdication and Bavaria's troubles during the 1848 German Revolutions.
Abandoned by her lover/King, she moves back to London, then on to the United States, with a tour of Australia in there as well.
Harriet Steel has written a novel rich in period history, about Lola, who spent her whole life, it seems, trying to send a giant middle-finger gesture to the mother who never loved her. The string of events Lola inspires or witnesses makes for some really nice historical fiction.
Except that "Becoming Lola" is a biography. Eliza Gilbert, Eliza James (her first married name), Lola Montez--all true. All of the famous lovers, lust for money, single-handedly driving a beloved King Ludwig into shameful abdication? Yup. Bavaria's involvement in the 1848 Germanic Revolutions? Unlike other Germanic states where things were bad, in Bavaria, it was pretty much just that Lola was an immoral slut who needed to go.
Most of "Becoming Lola" focuses on her relationship with Ludwig. He is obviously enchanted, and loves Lola deeply. She, in turn, gets to live a rich life, with all the bills paid for by the King's exchequer. The lovely apartment and fine clothing and jewels? Not good enough for Lola. She insists on having an estate, and she nags Ludwig constantly for her title. What she seems incapable of understanding is just how much the Munich citizenry resent and hate her. She is imperious and rude, and treats people like they exist solely to serve her whims. Any affront she encounters, she either draws a dagger from her belt and threatens to kill the offender, or she threatens to have the King throw the offender in prison.
"Becoming Lola" doesn't read at all like a biography. Author Harriet Steel's writing presents biographical facts in the guise of a well-done Historical Romance--a literary spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down. Especially with Ms Steel's presentation, there is nothing dry or scholastic about Lola's life. (Of course, if Sir Isaac Newton had schtupped his way across Europe, causing empires to fall, maybe his biographies would be more entertaining)
Lola's role in King Ludwig's demise reminded me of Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee whose behavior led to the disgraced abdication of England's King Edward VIII. In trying for other comparisons, I came up with Madonna, because Madonna is unparalleled at reinventing herself. That comparison fails, because Madonna has talent as an entertainer. I thought of various Kardashians or Paris Hilton, who are famous only for being famous, but they were born to riches, and don't depend on men for their survival.
Lola Montez undeniably had talent. As a dancer, she was good--even excellent some nights. Her truest talent, however, was forcing herself into a society where she had no claim. For her life's sheer, arrogant audacity--for exploding from kind little Eliza Gilbert to this force of nature--Lola deserved all the fame, riches, sickness, and misery she found. She earned it all.
Brava, Lola!
Highly recommended.
October 10, 2020
Very Interesting
I first heard of Lola in a biography series I used to read as a child. This book opened the story of her life up for me and I really enjoyed reading it. It is also a good example of how trapped women were at this time and of the courage it took to rebel and deal with people’s reactions. Great read.
I first heard of Lola in a biography series I used to read as a child. This book opened the story of her life up for me and I really enjoyed reading it. It is also a good example of how trapped women were at this time and of the courage it took to rebel and deal with people’s reactions. Great read.
February 22, 2020
Doesn't fulfill it's own blurb..
I just didn't like it. Lola/Eliza is as unlikeable a heroine as it's possible to have.. I find myself questioning the veracity of the story in several places.. there's no mention of the syphilis that killed her.. no real reason for the hatred her mother shows her as a child..
As I reread the blurb* I feel somewhat cheated.. "gripping" it is not.. "decades as the most famous woman after Queen Victoria" is just a claim too far..
As it's clear to see from the quote below Steel rather overstates her content within the précis.. I don't deny that she's covered the brief childhood in India and the European years but a single chapter appended as an epilogue gives the reader little to go on for what is almost half Lola's adulthood.
It feels like Steel has suddenly become bored and with little to go on decided to contract 1848-61, basically the entire American and Australian years, into a single chapter.. I rather expected more about it when it's made so much of.. a truer claim would be "the story of the woman who almost took down a monarchy" but then that just brings the name Wallis Simpson, another thoroughly unlikeable, demanding, manipulative and spoilt woman, to mind.
*"The gripping story of Lola Montez, the notorious Victorian dancer and adventuress who rose to become for decades the most famous woman in the world after Queen Victoria.
The story of how she did it ranges from the exotic lands of India to the rough-and-ready Australian Outback, taking in the glittering courts of Europe, the razzmatazz of New York’s Broadway and the California goldfields on the way."
No.. this book doesn't fulfill it's brief and it's fictionalised history which needs to be handled with much more care than it has been.
I just didn't like it. Lola/Eliza is as unlikeable a heroine as it's possible to have.. I find myself questioning the veracity of the story in several places.. there's no mention of the syphilis that killed her.. no real reason for the hatred her mother shows her as a child..
As I reread the blurb* I feel somewhat cheated.. "gripping" it is not.. "decades as the most famous woman after Queen Victoria" is just a claim too far..
As it's clear to see from the quote below Steel rather overstates her content within the précis.. I don't deny that she's covered the brief childhood in India and the European years but a single chapter appended as an epilogue gives the reader little to go on for what is almost half Lola's adulthood.
It feels like Steel has suddenly become bored and with little to go on decided to contract 1848-61, basically the entire American and Australian years, into a single chapter.. I rather expected more about it when it's made so much of.. a truer claim would be "the story of the woman who almost took down a monarchy" but then that just brings the name Wallis Simpson, another thoroughly unlikeable, demanding, manipulative and spoilt woman, to mind.
*"The gripping story of Lola Montez, the notorious Victorian dancer and adventuress who rose to become for decades the most famous woman in the world after Queen Victoria.
The story of how she did it ranges from the exotic lands of India to the rough-and-ready Australian Outback, taking in the glittering courts of Europe, the razzmatazz of New York’s Broadway and the California goldfields on the way."
No.. this book doesn't fulfill it's brief and it's fictionalised history which needs to be handled with much more care than it has been.
November 19, 2017
This fictionalized life of the woman who became Lola Montez tells an interesting story of a woman who lived a hard life, to a great extent of her own making. Still, she lived in an interesting period and interacted with interesting people, including King Ludwig of Bavaria (not Mad King Ludwig, but his grandfather) and one of the Russian Czars. Her life was relatively short, but she managed to squeeze in a lot of careers, lovers, and homes during that period. I didn't find her particularly likable with her frequent tantrums and over-sized ego, but she certainly led an interesting life, and to give her credit, she lived in a time in which it was not easy for women to make their own way.
April 7, 2020
Fascinating subject
After reading Sex with Kings, a nonfiction book all about royal mistresses, I became especially interested in the story of Lola Montez. I was thrilled that someone had written a historical fiction account of her life. This book covers her childhood and up through her escape from Bavaria. The epilogue gives us the story of her life after the king. Lola was NOT an endearing character, and I like it that the author didn’t try to portray her as sweet and innocent. In fact, I disliked Lola quite thoroughly, but that didn’t spoil the story. I believe that is quite a feat: to write a good book about a bad person. Excellent story. Worth reading.
After reading Sex with Kings, a nonfiction book all about royal mistresses, I became especially interested in the story of Lola Montez. I was thrilled that someone had written a historical fiction account of her life. This book covers her childhood and up through her escape from Bavaria. The epilogue gives us the story of her life after the king. Lola was NOT an endearing character, and I like it that the author didn’t try to portray her as sweet and innocent. In fact, I disliked Lola quite thoroughly, but that didn’t spoil the story. I believe that is quite a feat: to write a good book about a bad person. Excellent story. Worth reading.
September 29, 2023
This historical fiction novella was an entertaining overview of the life (and numerous loves) of Lola Montez. Montez, born Eliza Gilbert, was famous for her apparently erotic (but often not very good, if the reviews are to be believed) dancing ... and for her well-known love affairs with European aristocracy.
The book was well-written ... until we came to the so-called epilogue, at which point we got a rather academic glossing-over of everything Montez did after her affair with Ludwig of Bavaria came to an end, culminating in her death at age 39. It felt tacked-on ... and that cost the book a star.
The book was well-written ... until we came to the so-called epilogue, at which point we got a rather academic glossing-over of everything Montez did after her affair with Ludwig of Bavaria came to an end, culminating in her death at age 39. It felt tacked-on ... and that cost the book a star.
February 26, 2020
Interesting... But....
Lola is certainly a rare find and an exhaustingly exotic woman. It is hard to care about her given her expertise manipulation and use of straight out demands. One wonders how a woman of that time got away with such bad behavior... Are men really that shallow when faced with s try beautiful woman? Amazing.... Birth on her front and that if these manysucessful men who apparently were ready to throw it all aside as the glimpse of her delicate ankle... Really?
Lola is certainly a rare find and an exhaustingly exotic woman. It is hard to care about her given her expertise manipulation and use of straight out demands. One wonders how a woman of that time got away with such bad behavior... Are men really that shallow when faced with s try beautiful woman? Amazing.... Birth on her front and that if these manysucessful men who apparently were ready to throw it all aside as the glimpse of her delicate ankle... Really?
August 25, 2018
Entertaining Account of The Exploits of Lola!
Being very curious to read this account of the notorious Lola Montez who is a legend in Grass Valley, CA, history, BECOMING LOLA met my expectations and more. It was a fun and glorious romp with Lola over the countries and through the wilderness. Ms Steel captured her audience while painting an intricate picture of this truly remarkable women of the 19th century. Brava, Ms Steel!
Being very curious to read this account of the notorious Lola Montez who is a legend in Grass Valley, CA, history, BECOMING LOLA met my expectations and more. It was a fun and glorious romp with Lola over the countries and through the wilderness. Ms Steel captured her audience while painting an intricate picture of this truly remarkable women of the 19th century. Brava, Ms Steel!
October 11, 2019
I lived near Grass Valley at one time in the past and visited her home several times. Was always interested in the back story. Did not know this was not her real name.
A lot of research went into this book and is apparent. It deserves to be read. It is well written and show her as a disturbed women who only thought of herself. She became upset when she lost her beloved father at a very young age. She demanded to be elevated above her station and nearly caused a riot all over Germany.
A lot of research went into this book and is apparent. It deserves to be read. It is well written and show her as a disturbed women who only thought of herself. She became upset when she lost her beloved father at a very young age. She demanded to be elevated above her station and nearly caused a riot all over Germany.
May 17, 2020
Such drama for the Era
I would have never imagined such "goings on" existed in this Era. What an adventurous woman with "Brava" beyond imagination. While she became and did things that I cannot repect, her tenacity and experiences are only to be admired, other then the spoilt years with the king of Bavaria! Talk about living with blinders on! She lived a full life in her relatively short life. A good read!
I would have never imagined such "goings on" existed in this Era. What an adventurous woman with "Brava" beyond imagination. While she became and did things that I cannot repect, her tenacity and experiences are only to be admired, other then the spoilt years with the king of Bavaria! Talk about living with blinders on! She lived a full life in her relatively short life. A good read!
June 4, 2022
Very interesting and entertaining
I had not known of Lola Montez when I chose to read this book. This telling of her story vividly brings her to life. She’s altogether repugnant and fascinating at the same time! I enjoyed reading and learning about her large personality in a time when her behavior was so taboo.
I had not known of Lola Montez when I chose to read this book. This telling of her story vividly brings her to life. She’s altogether repugnant and fascinating at the same time! I enjoyed reading and learning about her large personality in a time when her behavior was so taboo.
April 7, 2018
Enjoyed it
I enjoyed reading this book. However the author seems to put more emphasis & time into her characters in Europe. I would have liked to hear more about her life in California.
I enjoyed reading this book. However the author seems to put more emphasis & time into her characters in Europe. I would have liked to hear more about her life in California.
October 11, 2020
I had heard the name Lola Montez and knew she was involved with some Royal, just was mistaken on who it was. A fascinating look at a woman who was English, but convinced the world she was Spanish, and despite being a mediocre dancer, sold out the house.
October 11, 2020
“Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets!”
I had heard of her, but I never knew she took down a government and everyone in her path had trials and tribulations. She was certainly a person who could have had a nice life were it not for her temper! What a great book.
I had heard of her, but I never knew she took down a government and everyone in her path had trials and tribulations. She was certainly a person who could have had a nice life were it not for her temper! What a great book.
November 3, 2022
spoilt brat
A good read. Wondering what was real, definitely the history. So I looked up Lola and she was true. Very headstrong and spoilt especially for the age. A modern day feminist.
A good read. Wondering what was real, definitely the history. So I looked up Lola and she was true. Very headstrong and spoilt especially for the age. A modern day feminist.
October 11, 2020
lola is a completely unlikeable character. she is a user of other people's time, money and emotions. i don't believe she has a single redeeming quality. don't bother to read this.
August 9, 2016
I had some difficulty choosing between my "historical fiction" and "biography" tags for this novelization of the life of real-life social climber and stage dancer, Lola Montes/Montez. That genre confusion is a good indicator of why the book didn't work for me, actually. Clearly it was a passion project that involved a good deal of research into the already well-fictionalized biography of Montez. (In her own autobiographical lectures, Montez jokes at considerable length about the different versions of the details of her life, including her birthplace, that have been issued in "biographies" of her). But the desire to incorporate all of this research inhibits the fictional world, and particularly the fictional story-telling, which is stilted at best. Busily incorporating all the various incidents, personages, and material details of Lola's world into her descriptions and dialogues, Steel appears to have missed the mark in creating a character who can carry a novel. Her Lola is flat, and shows no sign of the irony and wit that leaps out from just a few pages of the woman's own writings. In addition, I think part of the problem may have been that the novel tries to cover Lola's entire life (it was a short one, but certainly full of incident), and thus it loses focus and becomes entirely episodic. Giving more space to one particular period, the grace of fictionalization would allow the author (and us) to imagine *why* Lola had some of her famous tantrums, and how she dealt emotionally with the aftermath; and it might have allowed, also, something more like the shape of a plot or an emotional resolution, which is something we ask for in a novel, as opposed to a biography. There was a bit of a stab at this, I thought, in the insistence on Lola's relationship with her frigid mother and how it turned her into a rabid attention-seeker throughout her life, but it was a rather thin insight to carry the whole book, in my opinion.
I'm wondering if Steel, in her researches, managed to track down enough material to have a shot at a real biography, footnotes, bibliography, lengthy contemporary quotations and all? Because, if so, I'd actually be somewhat interested in reading it.
I'm wondering if Steel, in her researches, managed to track down enough material to have a shot at a real biography, footnotes, bibliography, lengthy contemporary quotations and all? Because, if so, I'd actually be somewhat interested in reading it.
October 22, 2015
I had high hopes for this novel because I love stories about actual adventurous women, but I didn't get into this character. Lola's life was a train wreck of her own manufacturing. Every time she was in a good situation (except one tragic love affair) she managed to screw it up with temper tantrums and an unbelievable blindness to other's feelings or the politics of the times. The book might have been saved by more skillful writing. The story is told in third person with the result I felt distant--almost detached--from the characters and therefore cared little about their fates. First person or a close third person would have enhanced this book considerably. I can like and root for flawed characters--in fact I prefer them--but they have to be skillfully drawn. That said, the author seemed to have done her homework and this clearly was a labor of love. If she had written a strait biography this would be a 3-4 star book, but it was just OK as a novel.
November 25, 2015
such an interesting biography!
what a firecracker Lola was once she came to terms with her cold, uncaring mother and that she'd never win her approval or love...there were times when I despised how ruthless and egomaniacal she was, but then again, like her many leashed lovers, I fell back in love with her fiery temperament. Excellent reading and I'll be interested in reading more about her.
what a firecracker Lola was once she came to terms with her cold, uncaring mother and that she'd never win her approval or love...there were times when I despised how ruthless and egomaniacal she was, but then again, like her many leashed lovers, I fell back in love with her fiery temperament. Excellent reading and I'll be interested in reading more about her.
January 1, 2016
Great read
I read this book in two days time hardly wanting to put it down. It is truly a fascinating look into the life of a very determined and interesting woman who tried to better herself as best as she could to survive and support herself while undermining her efforts with her tantrums and foolishness. It was amazing how she managed to ingratiate herself into the upper echelons of society only to end up being hated by them almost causing a revolution.
I read this book in two days time hardly wanting to put it down. It is truly a fascinating look into the life of a very determined and interesting woman who tried to better herself as best as she could to survive and support herself while undermining her efforts with her tantrums and foolishness. It was amazing how she managed to ingratiate herself into the upper echelons of society only to end up being hated by them almost causing a revolution.
January 7, 2014
I was looking for a biography of Lola Montez and didn't realize until I'd hit the "buy" button that it was actually fictionalized. Considering the potential for artistic license, it seemed kind episodic and abrupt and I was disappointed that it covered a relatively short period of its subject's life.
July 23, 2012
I'm not sure whether it was the subject matter or the writing/characterization, but I found this book wholly unengaging. I started flipping through the last hundred pages just to finish, and even lost interest in that.
October 26, 2014
Celebrity Gone Bad
Lola was the precursor of modern times celebrity acting badly. A woman who reinvented herself several times to manipulate, coerce, and force her selfish desires upon men and nations. A thoroughly unreliable narrator well written.
Lola was the precursor of modern times celebrity acting badly. A woman who reinvented herself several times to manipulate, coerce, and force her selfish desires upon men and nations. A thoroughly unreliable narrator well written.
August 20, 2016
I skipped the last third. What a thoroughly unpleasant woman was Lola. If she had any redeeming characteristics the author did not share them. I realise it was difficult in those days for women but she was the author of her own downfall.
December 30, 2021
AIBA Book of the Day: 30 December, 2021: 007/41328
Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include BECOMING LOLA by HARRIET STEEL in the library of Awesome Indies' Badge of Approval recipients.
November 6, 2012
Although I found the topic of this book interesting, I found it to be a very slow read and finished it only from sheer tenacity.
November 26, 2012
Kind of a real-life Vanity Fair. I wonder if she was the inspiration for Becky? Set during the same period. Interesting to see the overlaps between her life and historical events.
May 27, 2013
Not for me - too slow and Lola's mother just too irritating. Still, pretty cool historical novel.
August 4, 2015
Did not like Lola - what a self-centered brat! Men fawning all over her, it's ridiculous.
September 22, 2016
Her name was Lola
An easy read about a real life fascinating character from the past. Harriet Steele tells it well. Enjoyable historical fiction.
An easy read about a real life fascinating character from the past. Harriet Steele tells it well. Enjoyable historical fiction.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews