Beloved Emma

Flora Fraser, daughter of Lady Antonia, crafted this more sedate biography a few decades ago but it has stood the test of time. There’s less scandal driving the narrative as the author is more measured and allows the material, which is fascinating enough, to speak for itself without improper or unnecessary embellishment. This makes it rather old-school, which I think is also nice, and the author conjures up a rather sympathetic version of Emma, seeing her as loyal and loving, and managing to free her from some of the tawdriness that some other accounts use to grab the reader’s attention.