L.E.L.

The Lost Life and Mysterious Death of the 'Female Byron'

Lucasta Miller

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Vintage
03 December 2020

Biography; Biography: literary; Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 ; British & Irish history; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; Social & cultural history

A famous poet, a mysterious death and a story stranger than fiction. - this is the lost life and mytserious death of the 'Female Byron' On 15 October 1838, the body of a thirty-six-year-old woman was found in Cape Coast Castle, West Africa, a bottle of prussic acid in her hand. She was one of the most famous English poets of her day- Letitia Elizabeth Landon, known by her initials 'L.E.L.' What was she doing in Africa? Was her death an accident? Had she committed suicide, or even been murdered? To her contemporaries, she was an icon, hailed as the 'female Byron'. However, she was also a woman with secrets, the mother of three illegitimate children whose existence was subsequently wiped from the record. After her death, she became the subject of a cover-up which this book unravels, excavating with it a whole lost literary culture. FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BRONTE MYTH

By: Lucasta Miller
Imprint: Vintage
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 35mm
Weight: 500g
ISBN: 9780099503590
ISBN 10: 009950359X
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 03 December 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Dr Lucasta Miller is the author of The Bronte Myth and a literary journalist whose work has appeared in a wide number of publications, especially the Guardian. She has been a visiting scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford and a visiting fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

Reviews for L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Mysterious Death of the 'Female Byron'

Miller explores the seedy underbelly of the era with panache... Miller's definitive biography restores to life a poet who influenced writers such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti and Charlotte Bronte. -- Paula Byrne * The Times * Compelling as a detective story, Miller's revelatory life of Landon is a masterpiece of eloquent scholarship... Miller's real genius lies in her forensic ability to disentangle reality from romance... splendid. -- Miranda Seymour * Literary Review * Lucasta Miller has written a terrific book... This is a compelling life of the victim of a misogynist celebrity culture, a rich mix of literary criticism and impeccable research, which reads like a novel - you keep turning the pages to discover whatever will happen next to the unfortunate L.E.L.. -- Jane Ridley * Daily Telegraph * Wonderfully entertaining... spellbinding. * New York Times Book Review * In her biography of L.E.L., Lucasta Miller's stellar research blows two centuries of accumulated dust off a phenomenon worth unearthing... This book takes biography to a new level... Detection of this order has a revelatory impact. -- Lyndall Gordon * New Statesman *