Based on the true story of one of du Maurier's own distant relatives, Mary Anne's love of money and the men who spend it embroil her in risks that threaten her very existence.

'She wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense' GUARDIAN

'This novel catches fire' NEW YORK TIMES

'With unfailing du Maurier skill, the author has coupled family interest with dramatic sense' ELIZABETH BOWEN

She set men's hearts on fire and scandalized a country.

In Regency London, the only way for a woman to succeed is to beat men at their own game. So when Mary Anne Clarke seeks an escape from her squalid surroundings in Bowling Inn Alley, she ventures first into the scurrilous world of the pamphleteers. Her personal charms are such, however, before long she is noticed by the Duke of York.

With her taste for luxury and power, Mary Anne, now a royal mistress, must aim higher. Her lofty connections allow her to establish a thriving trade in military commissions, provoking a scandal that rocks the government and brings personal disgrace.

A vivid portrait of overweening ambition, Mary Anne is set during the Napoleonic Wars and based on the life of du Maurier's own great-great-grandmother.

She wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense, and she was, too, a writer of fearless originality