Mistress of My Fate

By the award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

For fans of BBC TV's hit series HARLOTS

My tale is not for the faint of heart.

Born illegitimate in eighteenth-century England, Henrietta Lightfoot reveals the truth about the events that shaped her in this candid confessional of a wide-eyed girl's journey to worldliness.

Forced to flee her childhood home for the capital, Henrietta falls face first into a demi-monde of rakes, rogues, wits, pimps and courtesans. It is not long before she realizes that true liberty is a privilege to be enjoyed by men. But Henrietta is determined to find independence.

In this deliciously deviant novel, Rubenhold illuminates the dark lives of the women written out of eighteenth-century literature by the great male writers. Vibrant and full-blooded, it is an unputdownable picaresque story for our times

'A remarkable picture of a fascinating age' DAILY EXPRESS

'A full-blooded historical' INDEPENDENT

'Two parts Lizzie Bennett and Tom Jones's Sophia Western to one part Moll Flanders' INDEPENDENT

'Combines extraordinary bawdiness with silky sophistication' DAILY EXPRESS

© Hallie Rubenhold 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Hallie RubenholdJane McDowellTransworld Digital

Biographical Fiction

Genre Fiction

Science Fiction

Fiction

Heartfelt

Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Science Fiction Fiction Heartfelt

Critic reviews

A remarkable picture of a fascinating age which combined extraordinary bawdiness with silky sophistication (think Hogarth and Gainsborough)

A full-blooded historical - two parts Lizzie Bennett and Tom Jones's Sophia Western to one part Moll Flanders - with a splash of Fanny Hill

This enticing novel, written with charm and originality, is full of period detail and historical insight

A remarkable picture of a fascinating age which combined extraordinary bawdiness with silky sophistication (think Hogarth and Gainsborough)

A full-blooded historical - two parts Lizzie Bennett and Tom Jones's Sophia Western to one part Moll Flanders - with a splash of Fanny Hill

A vibrant coming of age story...ricochets with bawdy energy, witty observation and rollicking pace between brothels, theatres and the corridors of political power. Lots of fun

The first instalment in Hallie Rubenhold’s sparking 18th-century fictional memoir series, This enticing novel, written with charm and originality, is full of period detail and historical insight

Most relevant

At the end of this book I was furious. I felt like the author had copped out of giving us answers to various plot points and run out of steam. Then it occurred to me to see if there were more in the series and I’m really glad I didn’t write my review before that 🤦🏼‍♀️ Anyway, I mostly really enjoyed the heroine’s untrustworthy account of her misadventures. There are some great characters and that fascinating sense that her imagined Victorian readers were way less permissive than the Georgians of her youth. I didn’t warm to the ‘hero’ who lacks the requisite charm or appeal to get away with his behaviour but now he has two more books to make it up to me.