Description

Emily Soldene's life spanned the entire Victorian era. As both leading lady and a formidable impresario with her own opera company, she was a darling of London's music halls and theatre land, later reinventing herself as a journalist and writer. From humble working-class beginnings a star was born. Emily's fiery ambition would see her counting the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Charles Dickens as friends and mingling with the Rothschilds, Oscar Wilde and aristocrats. She even alleged that she had a close encounter with Jack the Ripper. Charting her international triumphs and calamitous disasters, from taking Broadway by storm and touring the Australian outback, Batten vividly recreates the era and a riotous life that has faded from the limelight. Putting Emily Soldene firmly back in centre stage, this is a portrait of an irrepressible character who trod the boards, travelled the globe and tore up the rule book, often scandalising London in the process.