Today (Tuesday) sees the release of Isle of Wight author, Adrian Searle’s latest book, The Infamous Sophie Dawes, New Light on the Queen of Chantilly.
Sophie Dawes was the daughter of an alcoholic Isle of Wight smuggler. Much of her childhood was spent in the island’s workhouse. Yet she threw off the shackles of her downbeat formative years to become one of the most talked-about personalities in post-revolutionary France.
It was the ultimate rags to riches story which would see her become the mistress of the fabulously wealthy French aristocrat Louis Henri de Bourbon, destined to be the last Prince of Condé.
Extraordinary rise from obscurity to becoming a baroness
The Infamous Sophie Dawes takes an in-depth look at her Island background before tracing her extraordinary rise from obscurity to becoming a baroness who ruled the prince’s château at Chantilly as its unofficial queen and intrigued with the King of the French to get what she wanted.
But how far did she go? The book examines the mysterious death of Louis Henri in 1830 and uses newly discovered evidence in a bid to determine the part Sophie may have played in his demise.
Save money and buy today
Grab your copy of The Infamous Sophie Dawes today from the Pen and Sword Website and save £6 on the recommended retail price.
About the author
Adrian Searle is a journalist and author who writes on a range of historical topics, unearthing previously hidden aspects of history in a search for the truth.
Born and bred on the Isle of Wight, he returned there in 1984 to edit a local newspaper and has worked in a freelance capacity since 1989.
Previous titles for Pen and Sword were The Quintinshill Conspiracy, a collaboration with Jack Richards (2013) examining Britain’s worst rail disaster, and Churchill’s Last Wartime Secret (2016), revealing a hushed-up German raid on an Isle of Wight radar station.
News shared by Charlie on behalf of Pen and Sword. Ed
