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The Grit in the Pearl

The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll

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The Grit in the Pearl

By: Lyndsy Spence
Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
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About this listen

Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912-1993) was an international celebrity in her youth, adored and observed by millions. But in 1963, the year of the Profumo Affair, the 11th Duke of Argyll shocked the country when he alleged that his adulterous wife had slept with over 80 men behind his back. He produced, as his evidence, a set of sexually explicit Polaroid photographs and explosive love letters. The duke won a divorce, but this had a dramatic effect on Margaret's life. On the verge of financial destitution, she fell from grace and was abandoned by most of her friends prior to her death in a nursing home in Pimlico in 1993. 

Lyndsy Spence tells a tragic story of the life and downfall of this fascinatingly complex woman, and shows how she fell victim to a cruel husband, harsh social mores, and an unforgiving class. It uses new sources, including taped conversations, an unexpurgated transcript of her divorce trial, interviews, and letters. The Grit in the Pearl is a meticulously researched and powerful biography, which acts as a potent lens on various themes in the last century: fame, privacy, the media, sex, power, and relationships between classes.

©2019 Lyndsy Spence (P)2019 Tantor Entertainment & Celebrities Historical Politicians Politics & Activism Royalty Women Celebrity Marriage Biography Funny
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I didn’t know anything about this woman and this biography had me entranced. The narrator was well measured and delivered the content with eloquent detail.

A fascinating woman!

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Despite the negative comments about the narrator, I decided to buy this book as I was fascinated by the subject matter. This is incredibly well researched and written I have no regrets . Re the narrator, she has a wonderful pitch to her voice, the issue I think for some people, is with her intonation. It did take me a while to get used to this but in the end I found the whole experience very enjoyable.

Fascinating

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the delivery of this book completely spoilt my experience whilst Rayner had dulcet tones her performance was dreadful... her breathing stops just did not work and spoilt the flow of the story... it nearly killed me to listen to it... I almost abandoned by it five minutes in... content goodish but no meant on the bones... no in-depth anything... I feel it lacked real research....

affected delivery!!! groan.

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Awful narration .. felt I would enjoy the book much more with another narrator .. pity because the story was very interesting.

Feeeling let down

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The narrator was very poor. Sudden, strange mispronunciations have a jarring effect. Also the constant misuse of the phrase “on behalf of” when she should say “on the part of” was a constant irritation. Not sure if that was down to the writer or the narrator.

Irritating mispronunciations

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