Beautiful For Ever
  • Published: 15 May 2012
  • ISBN: 9780099570134
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $29.99
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Beautiful For Ever

Madame Rachel of Bond Street - Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer

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The scandalous tale of Madame Rachel - celebrated beautician to the rich and famous of Victorian London, con-artist and convicted blackmailer.

A TRUE STORY OF LIES, BEAUTY AND BLACKMAIL IN VICTORIAN LONDON
_________________________
Madame Rachel had everything.

A Mayfair address; the title of 'purveyor to Her Majesty the Queen'; a shop full of exotic, expensive creams and potions; and a clientele of the aristocratic, the rich - and the gullible.

Little did they suspect that Madame Rachel had once been a poor fish-fryer in a disease-ridden, grubby corner of Victorian London. Her shop in New Bond Street lured her wealthy clients in their droves, enticed by the promise of eternal beauty. What they found there was a con-woman and fraudster who made a career out of lies, treachery and the desperate hopes of women wanting to be 'beautiful for ever'.

Beautiful For Ever is a thrilling tale of love affairs, scandal, blackmail, high-profile court cases, suicide and fraud, with the extraordinary Madame Rachel right at the centre of it all.
  • Published: 15 May 2012
  • ISBN: 9780099570134
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $29.99
Categories:
Share…

About the author

Helen Rappaport

Dr Helen Rappaport is the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including A Magnificent Obsession, The Romanov Sisters, and Caught in the Revolution. She studied Russian Special Studies at Leeds University, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a specialist in imperial Russian and Victorian history, and a frequent historical consultant on TV and radio. She lives in West Dorset.

portrait photo of Helen Rappaport

Also by Helen Rappaport

Magnificent Obsession
The Race to Save the Romanovs
Caught in the Revolution
Conspirator
Ekaterinburg
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Praise for Beautiful For Ever

A remarkable story... Rappaport handles her scandalous Victorian melodrama with energy and aplomb, and produces a richly entertaining portrait of the seamy side of 19th century society

Daily Mail

Madame Rachel's story, which has been superbly researched by Rappaport, is intriguing in itself [and] sheds a fascinating light on the ladies of Victorian society

Daily Telegraph

[Beautiful For Ever] is, blissfully, proof that there is still simply nothing quite like a good Victorian scandal. Rappaport excels again in this thoroughly researched account of Madame Rachel...this is a well-paced read that tells us something about the modern obsession with appearance while remaining deliciously Victorian at its core

Waterstone's Books Quarterly

Speaks volumes about vanity and Victorian attitudes to women

Sophie Morris, Independent

Beautiful For Ever is one of those un-put-downable surprises that makes reading worthwhile… This book has the same mix of forensic investigation and light touch that makes Kate Summerscale’s books so interesting

Big Issue

Rappaport’s book takes us behind the façade of fashionable Bond Street to glimpse the seamy side of Victorian respectability

David Bradbury, Daily Mail

A wickedly dramatic read

Charlotte Vowden, Daily Express