I am not sure what was so tantalizing about Lola, but I think it was that she did not at all behave how women were expected to behave and time after time, she would prove that she pretty much obtained what she wanted. Although shuffled from place to place and her mother seemed to often ship her off to be raised by others, I think she was always looking for home, since she never seemed to have one.
Lola was not a very likable person. She often was snooty, greedy and out only for herself with no regard for reputation or what it could potential do to others or how things might look. She did not have the best relationship with her mother and it was a little too late when she did try and come back into her life. Although she was taken well care of as a child, she often felt very alone and not able to make her own decisions.
She seemed to run any chance she got, and was going to do what she wanted whether it was appropriate or not. I think that may have been the allure about her, that her reputation proceeded her and she was well traveled due to her father, step-father and husband having been in the military. She led a scandalous but interesting life for that time frame and in the end she did want to be a better person.
This was an interesting read, in that I had never heard of Lola before. Although, is reads a bit more like a historical textbook with dialogue weaved throughout, more than a historical fiction read, but it was not dull in that she led quite the life. I also enjoyed the included photos. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a free copy of the book and TLC Book Tours for the invite.
An enthralling biography about one of the most intriguing women of the Victorian age: the first self-invented international social celebrity.
Lola Montez was one of the most celebrated and notorious women of the nineteenth century. A raven-haired Andalusian who performed her scandalous “Spider Dance” in the greatest performance halls across Europe, she dazzled and beguiled all who met her with her astonishing beauty, sexuality, and shocking disregard for propriety. But Lola was an impostor, a self-invention. Born Eliza Gilbert, the beautiful Irish wild child escaped a stifling marriage and reimagined herself as Lola the Sevillian flamenco dancer and noblewoman, choosing a life of adventure, fame, sex, and scandal rather than submitting to the strictures of her era.
Lola cast her spell on the European aristocracy and the most famous intellectuals and artists of the time, including Alexandre Dumas, Franz Liszt, and George Sand, and became the obsession of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. She then set out for the New World, arriving in San Francisco at the height of the gold rush, where she lived like a pioneer and performed for rowdy miners before making her way to New York. There, her inevitable downfall was every bit as dramatic as her rise. Yet there was one final reinvention to come for the most defiant woman of the Victorian age―a woman known as a “savage beauty” who was idolized, romanticized, vilified, truly known by no one, and a century ahead of her time.
~ Bloggers on Tour ~
Wednesday, September 1st: Books, Cooks, Looks – excerpt
Friday, September 3rd: Seaside Book Nook – excerpt
Sunday, September 5th: The Cozy Book Blog – excerpt
Monday, September 6th: @babygotbooks4life
Wednesday, September 8th: Literary Quicksand
Friday, September 10th: Nurse Bookie and @nurse_bookie
Monday, September 13th: @Bibliotica
Wednesday, September 15th: @aimeedarsreads
Thursday, September 16th: @msanniecathryn
Friday, September 17th: Maryann Writes
Monday, September 20th: @chez_colline
Wednesday, September 22nd: @as_seen_in_life
Thursday, September 23rd: @thebookishalix
Friday, September 24th: @jenniaahava
Monday, September 27th: Eliot’s Eats
Wednesday, September 29th: @books.cats.travel.food
Thursday, September 30th: @rickys_radical_reads
Friday, October 1st: @amanda.the.bookish
Monday, October 4th: Reading is My Remedy
Reading Is My Remedy 