What do you think?
Rate this book
The Beauty of Her Age: A Tale of Sex, Scandal and Money in Victorian England
Yolande Duvernay was born in poverty in Paris in 1812. Under the control of a formidable stage mother, she became a celebrated ballerina – the favourite dancer of Princess Victoria – renowned for her beauty, grace, and provocative style on stage. Sold for sexual assignations from puberty, she gave birth to two children and became the mistress of a succession of men. When she became the mistress of Stephens Lyne Stephens, son and heir of the richest commoner in England, her mother was rewarded with over a million pounds in today’s money.There was a massive scandal a few years later when she manipulated Stephens into marriage, and when he died, he left her a life interest in his entire fortune. With an annual income worth more than six million pounds today, she became the wealthiest woman in England – even richer, it was said, than Queen Victoria.While her husband’s will was placed in the infamous Court of Chancery and lawyers began to pore over every word, Yolande seduced the British military attaché in Paris. With an eye on her fortune, General Claremont took charge of her financial affairs, and soon he and his wife were sharing her wealthy lifestyle in a barely disguised ménage-à-trois.Jenifer Roberts unearths this fascinating story of sex, scandal and money, and proves that truth really can be stranger than fiction.
304 pages, Paperback
First published August 19, 2016
7 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 20, 2017
2.5
This sounded completely up my street - "a tale of sex, scandal and money in Victorian England'.
Jenifer Roberts certainly found a great character to explore and a fascinating story to tell.
But unfortunately, despite all the promise the subject showed, it was actually dry and dull. Quite an achievement!
Very disappointing - can't help feeling that in a more capable writer's hands we'd have had a far better book.
This sounded completely up my street - "a tale of sex, scandal and money in Victorian England'.
Jenifer Roberts certainly found a great character to explore and a fascinating story to tell.
But unfortunately, despite all the promise the subject showed, it was actually dry and dull. Quite an achievement!
Very disappointing - can't help feeling that in a more capable writer's hands we'd have had a far better book.
February 2, 2021
To be honest, I'm not sure how much scandal there is in this story. Yolande, a ballet dancer at the height of her fame in Paris and London, becomes the mistress of the man who won a bidding war with her mother. She doesn't love the man, she's in love with someone else, but she becomes very fond of him, is faithful to him, and eventually marries him.
Thus runs the earlier and much more interesting part of the story, with some local colour from London and Paris, and a bit of background on the Lyne Stephens fortune. We don't really get to know much about either Yoland or her lover/husband, though we do read a lot about their property and wealth.
Move on a few years, and Lyne Stephens is dead, leaving a complicated will and a host (almost 100) of heirs waiting on Yolande to die. She is now revealed as a clinging vine, a needy domineering woman who requires a hundred percent commitment from her servants and advisors. Enter General Claremont, the man who next becomes her lover and (more importantly) her financial adviser and confidant. There is a LOT about the general's military career in this book, way too much and not much of it giving much clue to the man himself. He was married with six children. His wife was forced for most of her life to tolerate what looks like an intolerable situation, but we get little on her. It's all about the property and the money, the disposal of it and the inheritance of it.
I didn't really enjoy this book, because I expected more about the people in it. Were they opaque because of lack of evidence? If so, I much prefer speculation to a blank - though that's very much a personal choice. Yolande in older age sounds awful, but we get no real sense of her existence, of why she changed so much, and of why there were some very different perspectives (given not much page space) on her.
She dies. The money is disposed of, her personal wealth and all the vast amounts held in trust for the Lyne Stephens family too. There's quite a lot about them in the end that I will be honest and admit to skimming through.
This is one of those books that I maybe mis-read when I bought it. It was well-researched and places interesting. But not what I was expecting. Mea culpa, maybe.
Thus runs the earlier and much more interesting part of the story, with some local colour from London and Paris, and a bit of background on the Lyne Stephens fortune. We don't really get to know much about either Yoland or her lover/husband, though we do read a lot about their property and wealth.
Move on a few years, and Lyne Stephens is dead, leaving a complicated will and a host (almost 100) of heirs waiting on Yolande to die. She is now revealed as a clinging vine, a needy domineering woman who requires a hundred percent commitment from her servants and advisors. Enter General Claremont, the man who next becomes her lover and (more importantly) her financial adviser and confidant. There is a LOT about the general's military career in this book, way too much and not much of it giving much clue to the man himself. He was married with six children. His wife was forced for most of her life to tolerate what looks like an intolerable situation, but we get little on her. It's all about the property and the money, the disposal of it and the inheritance of it.
I didn't really enjoy this book, because I expected more about the people in it. Were they opaque because of lack of evidence? If so, I much prefer speculation to a blank - though that's very much a personal choice. Yolande in older age sounds awful, but we get no real sense of her existence, of why she changed so much, and of why there were some very different perspectives (given not much page space) on her.
She dies. The money is disposed of, her personal wealth and all the vast amounts held in trust for the Lyne Stephens family too. There's quite a lot about them in the end that I will be honest and admit to skimming through.
This is one of those books that I maybe mis-read when I bought it. It was well-researched and places interesting. But not what I was expecting. Mea culpa, maybe.
December 13, 2016
Yolande Duvernay was a 19th century opera dancer in Paris who, after performing in London, ensnared one of the richest men in England. Unusually, the mistress married her keeper and when he died some decades later, he left her with a fortune worth £80 million in today's money. This was a fascinating biography of a poor girl done good and shows how women were treated in Victorian society.
August 15, 2016
Amazing rags to riches story
Jenifer Roberts brings the story of Yoland Lyne Stephens vividly to life. Few of us looking at Degas' pictures of pretty ballet dancing girls realises that most were little more than high class sex workers. Yoland was just such a one with her mother as her pimp. But her charm and beauty eventually propelled her into the arms of the richest English commoner of his age. It was in this way that she ended up as an exceedingly rich widow. And so Roberts has found herself a fascinating tale to tell.
Jenifer Roberts brings the story of Yoland Lyne Stephens vividly to life. Few of us looking at Degas' pictures of pretty ballet dancing girls realises that most were little more than high class sex workers. Yoland was just such a one with her mother as her pimp. But her charm and beauty eventually propelled her into the arms of the richest English commoner of his age. It was in this way that she ended up as an exceedingly rich widow. And so Roberts has found herself a fascinating tale to tell.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews