The Bolter

"An inspiration for Nancy Micford's character The Bolter, painted by William Orpen, a muse for the fashion designer Molyneux and phorographed by Cecil Beaton, Idina Sackville went on to divorce a total of five times, yet died with a photograph of her first love by her bed. Her struggle to reinvent her life with each new marriage left one husband murdered and branded her the 'high priestess' of White Mischief's bed-hopping Happy Valley in Kenya. She became renowned for her powers as a seductress and was rumoured to have had 'lovers without number'. " "Even thirty years after her death, Sackville's life was so scandalous that it was kept a secret from her great-granddaughter Frances Osborne. Now, Osborne draws on family letters and diaries to explore the tale of betrayal and heartbreak behind Sackville's journey to scandal and return, painting a dazzling portrait of high society in the early twentieth century. "--BOOK JACKET.