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  3. Love and Other Poisons: a gripping historical tale of scandal and murder, based on a true story

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Love and Other Poisons: a gripping historical tale of scandal and murder, based on a true story

Lesley McDowell

8 Reviews

Rated 0

Scotland, c 1800 to c 1900, Historical mysteries, Historical fiction

LOVE AND OTHER POISONS is the gripping historical novel based on the true story of Madeleine Smith, a young Scottish socialite who was accused of murdering her lover and the fascinating mystery around her sudden disappearance years later.

1857, Glasgow.

A young socialite named Madeleine Smith stands accused of murdering her lover. Thousands wait outside the court to hear the result. The scandalous nature of the affair, detailed explicitly in letters published in newspapers across the world, has made her case a worldwide sensation. But when the jury find themselves unable to decide whether she is guilty, they render a verdict of 'Not Proven' - and Madeleine is freed.

1927, New York.

Harry Townsend, a handsome Hollywood film scout believes he has found the woman once known as Madeleine Smith. He wants to tell her story on film for the new 'talkie' generation. Since her trial she has lived under many names, as a glamourous society hostess in bohemian Bloomsbury to the likes of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, George Bernard Shaw and William Morris. Until suddenly, in 1890, when she disappeared off the face of the earth.

Could this quiet, secretive widow of an Irish labourer be the same Madeleine Smith who once stood trial for murder and escaped?

She has one last secret to reveal. Will Harry persuade her to tell it?

Praise for Lesley McDowell:

'Beautifully written, Clairmont tells the sensuous hidden story of an influential historic woman.' Sara Sheridan, author of The Fair Botanists Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year

'An absorbing, intoxicating page-turner about a woman who deserves to be remembered.' Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Atalanta

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Praise for Love and Other Poisons: a gripping historical tale of scandal and murder, based on a true story

  • Riveting - a clever portrait of a fascinating, flawed heroine. - The Times

  • Clairmont is an intimate and enlightening tale of one of Romanticism's forsaken muses - artfully told in beautiful prose, a story that lingers in the mind far beyond the last page - Susan Stokes-Chapman

  • A must-read. McDowell brings Claire to vivid, embodied life; a flirtatious, flawed woman fighting for her place in a man's world. - The Herald

  • Clairmont emerges as a brave and sympathetic heroine in this engrossing novel - The Scotsman

  • A sensitive, beautifully told fictionalisation that gives a voice to one of literature's greatest muses. - Laura Shepperson

  • A must for all lovers of historical fiction. Clairmont is a true-life story of hope, passion, and regrets with Claire Clairmont (step sister of the writer Mary Shelley) enduring against all odds after an ill-starred affair with the poet, Byron. - Essie Fox

  • Clairmont is a fascinating journey into the dark underbelly of Romanticism. I was gripped, horrified and enlightened - and in awe of a woman who risked such pain and sorrow to 'mix in the throng' - Meg Clothier

  • Beautifully written, Clairmont tells the sensuous hidden story of an influential historic woman. - Sara Sheridan

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