Aristocrats by Stella Tillyard

Title: Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, 1750-1832

Author: Stella Tillyard

First Published: 1994

No. of Pages: 426

Synopsis (from B&N): "Based on a century's worth of diaries and letters, Tillyard tells a story of love and elopement, birth and death, revolution and treason, joy and tragedy. The Lennox sisters were great-granddaughters of a king, daughters of a cabinet minister, and wives of politicians. Here are their shared experiences on private matters--food, clothes, books, houses, gardens, and children."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: I found this book quite enjoyable. The lives of the individuals described were somewhat soap opera-ish, which always makes for a lively and entertaining story. The author appears to have done a great deal of research and portions from the subjects' letters and diaries are put to good use. A great deal of information regarding what life was like in general during the time is also presented, which is both educational and very interesting. The author not only focuses on the specific actions of the subjects, but includes detailed explanations of such things as how large houses were run (one of the sisters had a minimum of 100 servants to oversee) and typical educational experiences for the children of the wealthy.

I was also glad to see copies of relevant portraits and drawings of houses, as those always make biographies come more alive for me. A family tree was also included, but was placed in the very back of the book so that I didn't realize it was there until I was 20 pages from the end. It would have been much more useful in the front. My only other complaint is that information was not always presented chronologically, making it somewhat hard to follow; however, this only occurs in the beginning of the book and is a minor point.

Challenges: 999 ("Biography"); A to Z (author "T"); Nonfiction 5