In my family, we carry a few stories that deserve to be remembered. These books, about 3 important women were written to capture their stories and pass them down, offering future generations a way to understand where they come from.
These are stories of three exceptional women from the same family, each shaped by her time, her choices, and her strength. Though their lives unfolded differently and each woman’s life reflects the era she lived in, they are bound by blood, memory, and resilience.
1) A Scandalous Life, by Mary Lovell
The biography of Jane Digby, is an enthralling account of a nineteenth-century beauty, they say ‘whose head was ruled by her heart and her hormones’
An aristocratic beauty, Jane Digby married Lord Ellenborough at seventeen. Her divorce a few years later was one of England’s most scandalous at that time. In her search for passionate fulfilment she had lovers which included an Austrian prince, King Ludvig I of Bavaria, and a Greek count whose infidelities drove her to the Orient. Finally in Syria, she found the love of her life, a Bedouin nobleman, Sheikh Medjuel el Mezrab who was twenty years her junior.
Bestselling biographer Mary Lovell has produced from Jane Digby’s diaries not only a sympathetic and dramatic portrait of a rare woman, but a fascinating glimpse into the centuries-old Bedouin tradition that is now almost lost.
2) Kingmaker by SONIA PURNELL
Kingmaker tells the remarkable story of Pamela Digby, a woman whose life unfolded at the very center of 20th-century power. Born into British aristocracy, Pamela moved with ease through the worlds of politics, diplomacy, and high society, forming influential relationships that shaped both her life and the history around her.
From wartime London to Washington’s political elite, Pamela was more than a witness to history—she was an active participant. Intelligent, resilient, and socially astute, she navigated personal upheaval and public scrutiny while maintaining an extraordinary network of influence. Her life reveals how power is often exercised quietly, through connection, perception, and timing.
This book explores Pamela Digby not only as a public figure, but as a woman of ambition, adaptability, and survival, whose legacy extends far beyond the men and moments she is often associated with.
3) A lady in Waiting
Lady Anne Glenconner (born Anne Veronica Coke in 1932) is a British aristocrat, author, and longtime companion of the royal family known for her extraordinary life spanning high society, royal service, and personal resilience. She’s the bestselling author of memoirs such as Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown (2019) and Whatever Next?: Lessons from an Unexpected Life (2022), in which she shares candid stories of her life among the royals, her personal triumphs and tragedies, and insights from decades in the public eye.
N.B. If you are wondering what my connection is to these important ladies? Well, all of us are closely related to the Coke family, the present Earl of Leicester still lives at Holkham Hall in Norfolk.
