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  • The Grit in the Pearl

  • The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll
  • By: Lyndsy Spence
  • Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
  • Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (11 ratings)

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The Grit in the Pearl cover art

The Grit in the Pearl

By: Lyndsy Spence
Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
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Publisher's Summary

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

What listeners say about The Grit in the Pearl

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    4 out of 5 stars

What A Woman!!!

This book.... what a life one woman can live. What was she seeking she already had the money. Yes I understand the hunger for a title but really. This book stirred anger and frustration in me and yes I could not put it down. She had so much money and her last years had none. She the most extraordinary life socialising with most extraordinary people, travelling in the most extraordinary style. A real life lived in an era of conservativeness. Wow wow and wow. This story will stay with me for a while now.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting story but irritating narration

An insight into the lives of the rich and aimless. The narration is highly irritating.

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