Becoming Lola

Becoming Lola is the true story of an extraordinary woman who resolutely defied the conventions of her day, determined to wring every drop of excitement from life and love.Born in 1821 in modest circumstances, Eliza Gilbert, as she then was, became the nineteenth century's most notorious adventuress.At sixteen, she ruined herself in the eyes of society when, to avoid an abhorrent arranged marriage, she ran away with one of her mother's admirers. He married her, but she abandoned any chance of forgiveness when she refused to be trapped in an unhappy union and left him.Many women would have vanished into increasingly desperate obscurity, but Eliza was no ordinary woman. She reinvented herself as Lola Montez, a Spanish aristocrat fallen on hard times. In that guise, she blazed like a firecracker through the courts of Europe and beyond, reputedly taking hundreds of lovers, including King Ludwig of Bavaria and the composer, Franz Liszt. She was a dancer, an actress, an intrepid traveller and, by the time of her early death, the second most famous woman in the world after Queen Victoria.'Throughout Becoming Lola I had to remind myself that the story was based on historical fact. It is a fascinating journey following a woman's single-minded determination to get the very best for herself at all costs.' Historical Novel Society'A fascinating read. Lola was such a gutsy character, and Harriet Steel has captured her times and adventures very vividly. It's a must read if you like wild women and strange adventures.' Beth Webb, Author of the Star Dancer trilogy