The Scandal of the Century

Playwright, poet, spy, a scarlet woman condemned for loose morals . . . meet Aphra Behn, history's most fascinating female In 1682, a young woman in the throes of a passionate affair flees her parents' home in Surrey to seek a new life in London. A scandal in its own right, but this is no ordinary young woman- Lady Henrietta Berkeley is the daughter of one of England's most powerful men, and her lover is her own sister's husband... Inspired by this scandal, Aphra Behn would go on to write Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister, arguably the first novel in English literature. An immediate bestseller, it propelled Behn out of poverty and disgrace, yet she remains an enigma, the facts about her life continually disputed. In The Scandal of the Century, Lisa Hilton interweaves the story of these two rebellious and ruthless women. Against the backdrop of seventeenth-century England, with its strict traditional conventions of love, duty and identity, she shows just how far these women would go to break free.

About the Author :
Lisa Hilton is a best-selling author, historian, presenter and historical consultant. Taking inspiration from the lives of women who shaped the world, she has written six historical biographies including Athenais- The Real Queen of France (shortlisted for the Somerset Maugham Prize) and the critically-acclaimed Elizabeth, Renaissance Prince. She has presented numerous historical series, including 'Charles I- Downfall' (BBC4, 2019) and 'Charles I- Killing a King' (BBC4, 2020). Lisa grew up in the north of England and read English at New College, Oxford, after which she studied History of Art in Florence and Paris. Since then, Lisa has lived in New York, Paris, Milan and London.

Review :
'A landmark book, a sweeping, scintillatingly original, exciting and game changing exploration of writer, spy, power player, lover Aphra Behn. Thrilling, scholarly, powerfully researched, this is Aphra as she’s never been seen before. She bursts from the page, and Lisa Hilton brings to complex, unforgettable, vibrant life this fascinating woman and her unstable, dangerous times that have so much in common with ours' The Scandal of the Century allows Hilton to showcase her skill for both historical and detective work and compelling, evocative writing . . . [She] strides confidently into the conversation about Behn, dissecting existing biographies and cleverly constructing a thought-provoking and thrilling new theory of the writer's origins . . . A sparkling and eye-opening account . . . compelling to read [and] refreshingly transparent . . . Her fresh ideas could open up exciting paths for future scholars. 'An enjoyable read . . . challenging - but always entertaining' 'The Scandal of the Century is an impressive short account of Behn and her secretive life . . . Engaging, ingenious, lively . . . Hilton skilfully narrates background material of the Restoration . . . it disentangles with skill the complicated and sensational tale of Henrietta and Grey . . . Hilton dramatizes vividly the transactional nature of emotional exchanges between the pair' 'Gloriously mind-boggling . . .This is a lively book, full of saucy millennial-type analogies . . . The Scandal of the Century zips along merrily enough and leaves one with a familiar, unanswerable question both about Henrietta Berkeley and her astonishing effrontery in court, and about Aphra Behn creating a career out of it. What on earth did these women think they could achieve when nothing showed them that anything at all was possible? The next time, it would be slightly easier'