Bird of Paradise

Mary Robinson moved through late Georgian society as actress, royal mistress, celebrity and professional writer. Born in Bristol and married while still a teenager, she endured debtors’ prison before establishing herself on the London stage. Her performance as Perdita in The Winter’s Tale brought her to the attention of the young Prince of Wales and made their affair a public spectacle.

Gristwood follows Robinson beyond the scandal that first made her famous, tracing her relationships with politicians and writers and her development as a poet, novelist and political commentator. Illness and financial insecurity repeatedly threatened her independence, but she used print culture and her carefully managed public identity to recover authority over her own story. The book restores a figure important to Georgian theatre, early Romantic writing and debates about women’s reputation.