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The Grit in the Pearl

The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll

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The Grit in the Pearl

By: Lyndsy Spence
Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
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About this listen

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 Entertainment & Celebrities Historical Politicians Politics & Activism Royalty Women Celebrity Marriage Biography Funny
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I didn’t know anything about this woman and this biography had me entranced. The narrator was well measured and delivered the content with eloquent detail.

A fascinating woman!

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The book is excellent I will get in book form - I have a ton of these audio book and this one is the one I could not listen too as the narrator is not for me... This woman was amazing in everyway.. was there ever love. just a series of transactions so she could spend someone else's money

Narrator is sing song and drove me nuts..

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Duchess of argyle . What a woman. Took no crap from no man. And always seemed to be unlucky in love. Loved this.

Margaret

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The narrator is awful she sounds like Linda Snell in The Archers. The story is very interesting.

Ruined by awful narration.

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What a interesting life, she seemed a very selfish person and perhaps suffered from her fall. Poor narrator.

Interesting , but

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