The Duchess's Tattoo: Thoughts on THE AMERICAN HEIRESS

Daisy Goodwin

Apr 2011 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this ebook

"Anyone suffering Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms (who isn't?) will find an instant tonic in Daisy Goodwin's The American Heiress. The story of Cora Cash, an American heiress in the 1890s who bags an English duke, this is a deliciously evocative first novel that lingers in the mind." --Allison Pearson, New York Times bestselling author of I Don't Know How She Does It and I Think I Love You

"For daughters of the new American billionaires of the 19th century, it was the ultimate deal: marriage to a cash-strapped British Aristocrat in return for a title and social status. But money didn't always buy them happiness." —DAISY GOODWIN IN THE DAILY MAIL

Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts', suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England.

In "The Duchess's Tattoo", Cora Cash is desperate to be a fashionable lady of society. Despite her title and her wealth, she finds that English society is not that welcoming to "The American Duchess." When Cora spies a distinctive snake tattoo on her mother-in-law's wrist, she decides that she must have one as well.

It is up to the talented tattoo artist to save "The American Duchess" from herself.

In addition to the short story, "The Duchess Tattoo", this also contains a letter from the author, Daisy Goodwin, on writing THE AMERICAN HEIRESS, an excerpt from "Titled Americans", an authentic quarterly publication from 1890 which listed all of the eligible titled bachelors still on the market, and an excerpt from AN AMERICAN HEIRESS, a moving and brilliantly entertaining debut novel coming from St. Martin's Press in June.

Ratings and reviews

I read "The Duchess's Tattoo" before I ever read "The American Heiress." Once I finished reading, what I thought was an excerpt, I was left wanting more. I then immediately purchased "The American Heiress," and began to read. I had hoped that this novella had been an excerpt, but it turns out it is not. Instead it is more of a side story. One that takes place while Core and Wareham are in London. I quite enjoyed this short piece, and had almost forgotten my love of historical romances until this reignited that love. Only 4 stars because I want more of the story of Cora and Wareham (not just with this piece, but with the full book as well).

If you can't figure out how to do it right, then you don't deserve it. Remember you are supposed to rate the book and not the Google store. All of you one star people fail. I bet your $1 charge says pending. I bet it disappeared from your statement, too. Its a verification system that the card is valid and that you didn't type 16 digits at random. Come on people. For people buy books to read, you sure don't read terms and conditions.

Seriously, the story sounds interesting, but I'm not giving out my card info for no reason. Lift the card requirement and I would love to read this. You don't need my card number to "protect against plagerism" when you have my email addy and can ask for any number of other identifiers. As for rating the book poorly due to Google's ineptitude... the reviews and ratings are for the entire experience, and authors should know when the delivery system fails them.

About the author

DAISY GOODWIN, a Harkness scholar who attended Columbia University's film school after earning a degree in history at Cambridge University, is a leading television producer in the U.K. Her poetry anthologies, including 101 Poems That Could Save Your Life, have introduced many new readers to the pleasures of poetry, and she was Chair of the judging panel of the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction. She and her husband, an ABC TV executive, have two daughters and live in London. The American Heiress is her first novel.