Having just seen the film The Duchess I wanted to read the book. It is a great book packed with so much more than the film could ever take on. Even though you may have seen the film the book is well worth tackling and has loads of historical quotes and extracts from letters etc. It is a truly amazing story of a lady ahead of her time and obvious comparisons to the Princess of Wales - diana must be in your mind. She was a lady who wanted to be herself in a time when that was not possible. Do read it as so much better than the film although I thoroughly enjoyed that.