First published 1984
In 1778, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby shocked Irish society by running away together to a remote Welsh valley. The two women settled in Llangollen, where they created an unconventional household that would endure for forty years. Their cottage became a pilgrimage site for the literary and social elite of their era. Wordsworth made the journey to meet them. Lady Caroline Lamb sought their company. Countless other celebrities of the day traveled to Wales to visit the pair who had become known throughout Britain as the Ladies of Llangollen. Elizabeth Mavor reconstructs their daily routines, their correspondence, and their relationships with the stream of famous visitors who documented their lives. The biography reveals how two women carved out independence in an age when such freedom seemed impossible, transforming their exile into a celebration of friendship and self-determination.
Genres: biography, romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unconventional-relationship
Setting: Llangollen, Wales
Period: 1778, 19th Century
Hardcover · Viking