Nell: The Duchess of Manchester by Robert Wainwright

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Interior and binding are still excellent.

When an unassuming young Melbourne woman bumped into a handsome naval lieutenant in a Colombo hotel swimming pool in 1926, she would never have dreamed of one day being the wife of an English duke with three castles.

Demure but feisty Nell Stead (1902-1966) and Alexander 'Mandy' Drogo Montagu, son of the ninth Duke of Manchester, fell in love that day and were married within months in a union that surprised English society. Together, the unlikely couple set out to rescue the family's fortunes that taxes and financial mismanagement had crippled.

In a world of contrasts, they battle the excesses and eccentricities of dubious relatives under the threat of war to revive a dying estate, including a castle in which Catherine of Aragon spent her final days.

Nell's story is page-turning. The only Australian woman to join the British aristocracy as a duchess, her life is a wild ride through England, America, and Kenya as the House of Montagu crumbles over four generations.