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Lola Montez
How did an Irish Protestant girl, baptized Eliza Gilbert, transform herself into the most famous courtesan of the nineteenth century, attracting admirers and scandal wherever she went? This enthralling biography reveals the incredible true story of Lola Montez - who packed more adventure (and lovers) into her short life than any other woman of her time (or probably any other time). She captivated and ruined King Ludwig of Bavaria; at least one man was killed in a duel over her, another she horse-whipped; and she was not averse to shooting at her lovers in moments of anger. Her travels as an actress and dancer took her to four continents, and in her day racehorses and dances were named after her. Her meteoric life ended at the age of 41 in New York.
390 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 15, 2016
Morton is a professional biographer with a specialty in gangland true crime, so Lola Montez is a little bit out of his wheelhouse, but perhaps not very much so! He gives full credit to Bruce Seymour's fundamental work, based on archival material, from a decade before this was published. I was curious to see how Morton would make the subject his own.
The subtitle gives a bit of a clue: Morton has spread his contextual net quite a bit wider, and that includes giving more biographical detail than Seymour on the various men that passed through Lola's eventful life. In addition, he also picks up historical detail about a place or person from before or after Montez' encounter with them: for instance, we get a few pages on the subject of Jane Digby, the English adventuress who preceded Lola in Ludwig I's affections. We also get a bit more illustrative detail on social and physical conditions in Californian and Australian gold country. The last chapter is a follow-up on the fate of Lola's supporting cast, plus a survey of Montez in popular culture (novels, theatre, film, even ballet) after her death, which I found an interesting and useful addition. He recommends "The Heavenly Sinner" by Thomas Everett Harré as probably the best novelization.
The second way I'd say Morton distinguishes himself from Seymour is in his very extensive use of contemporary newspapers, a source he's probably extremely comfortable in because of his true crime specialty. So we get a good feel of how the average English-speaking newspaper-reader saw Lola over the course of her life (and from her obituaries), since he has clearly tracked pretty much every reference to her in all the English-language papers in Britain, the U.S. and Australia. I suspect he did not feel similarly comfortable in the other European languages.
Finally, Morton's narrative tone is quite a bit more spritely than Seymour's. I can't imagine the latter writing, "Throughout her life Lola appears to have believed men's hearts were situated somewhere below the fourth waistcoat button." He's not above inserting an adjective or adverb into an otherwise bald statement of fact to support a cynical reading of the situation. While by no means in the same league of trashiness of some of the modern celebrity biographies I've read - Morton gives us notes, bibliography, and index, and a highly restrained use of the exclamation mark - this work is in tone aimed far more at the casual reader. (That, by the way, is not any sort of criticism of Seymour's prose, which I found highly readable also).
While I'm not sorry to have read the two different and well-researched takes on Lola Montez' bizarre life, that's about enough Lola for me now.
The subtitle gives a bit of a clue: Morton has spread his contextual net quite a bit wider, and that includes giving more biographical detail than Seymour on the various men that passed through Lola's eventful life. In addition, he also picks up historical detail about a place or person from before or after Montez' encounter with them: for instance, we get a few pages on the subject of Jane Digby, the English adventuress who preceded Lola in Ludwig I's affections. We also get a bit more illustrative detail on social and physical conditions in Californian and Australian gold country. The last chapter is a follow-up on the fate of Lola's supporting cast, plus a survey of Montez in popular culture (novels, theatre, film, even ballet) after her death, which I found an interesting and useful addition. He recommends "The Heavenly Sinner" by Thomas Everett Harré as probably the best novelization.
The second way I'd say Morton distinguishes himself from Seymour is in his very extensive use of contemporary newspapers, a source he's probably extremely comfortable in because of his true crime specialty. So we get a good feel of how the average English-speaking newspaper-reader saw Lola over the course of her life (and from her obituaries), since he has clearly tracked pretty much every reference to her in all the English-language papers in Britain, the U.S. and Australia. I suspect he did not feel similarly comfortable in the other European languages.
Finally, Morton's narrative tone is quite a bit more spritely than Seymour's. I can't imagine the latter writing, "Throughout her life Lola appears to have believed men's hearts were situated somewhere below the fourth waistcoat button." He's not above inserting an adjective or adverb into an otherwise bald statement of fact to support a cynical reading of the situation. While by no means in the same league of trashiness of some of the modern celebrity biographies I've read - Morton gives us notes, bibliography, and index, and a highly restrained use of the exclamation mark - this work is in tone aimed far more at the casual reader. (That, by the way, is not any sort of criticism of Seymour's prose, which I found highly readable also).
While I'm not sorry to have read the two different and well-researched takes on Lola Montez' bizarre life, that's about enough Lola for me now.
December 30, 2022
A very dull, if well researched, read. Lola was obviously a narcissistic sociopath whose exploits have the potential to make an entertaining story. However, Morton fails to bring her to life on the page.
April 24, 2021
Enjoyed finding out about Lola Montez but a tough read.
June 27, 2022
very interested in the story of this historical person but I found the writing dense and i found myself loosing track of the story. Would love to read more about Lola.
January 30, 2015
I wasn't sure about this book. I originally rated it a 3 but then decided I would probably give it a 2.5.
James Morton has researched this book so very thoroughly and it is well set out in sequence but what I struggled with is that there was so much information. At times it seemed too much. Also, I had to take a day or two off here and there because I found Lola's life exhausting - and I was only reading about it! I found some aspects of her life extremely interesting but once or twice it read like a long list or a barrage of yet more outrageous behaviour . It was just shocking that she was able to get away with it all.
James Morton has researched this book so very thoroughly and it is well set out in sequence but what I struggled with is that there was so much information. At times it seemed too much. Also, I had to take a day or two off here and there because I found Lola's life exhausting - and I was only reading about it! I found some aspects of her life extremely interesting but once or twice it read like a long list or a barrage of yet more outrageous behaviour . It was just shocking that she was able to get away with it all.
October 12, 2012
Lola, she was a showgirl. Okay, not quite but what a performer. Courtesan and con artist and a woman not in charge of her temper. I don't think I particularly liked her whilst reading this but she sure was entertaining. Very well written biography.
September 4, 2012
the book was good but i did not like lola one bit!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews