Dancing to the Precipice

HercanvaseswerethecourtofLouisXVIandMarieAntoinette;theGreatTerror;AmericaatthetimeofWashingtonandJefferson;ParisundertheDirectoireandthenunderNapoleon;RegencyLondon;thebattleofWaterloo;and,forthelastyearsofherlife,theItalianducalcourts.LikeSaint-SimonatVersailles,SamuelPepysduringtheGreatFireofLondon,ortheGoncourtbrothersinnineteenth-centuryFrance,LucieDillon—adaughterofFrenchandBritishnobilityknowninFrancebyhermarriedname,LuciedelaTourduPin—wasthechroniclerofherage.LaRochefoucauldcalledher"aculturaljewel."TheSultanoftheOttomanEmpirefavoredherforhisdinnercompanioninParis.NapoleonrequestedsheattendJosephine.HerfriendsincludedTalleyrand,MadamedeSta?l,Chateaubriand,Lafayette,andtheDukeofWellington,withwhomsheplayedasachild.ShewitnessedfirsthandthedemiseoftheFrenchmonarchy,thewaveofRevolutionandtheReignofTerror,andtheprecipitousriseandfallofNapoleon.ShespenttwoyearsasanémigréinthenewlyindependentUnitedStates(onafarminAlbany)butwasalsoafamiliarofRegencyLondon.Ashrewd,determinedwomaninaturbulentageofmen,LuciedelaTourduPinwatched,listened,reflected—andwroteitalldown,mixingpoliticsandcourtintrigue,socialobservationandtherealitiesofeverydayexistence,toofferafascinatingchronicleofherera.Inthiscompellingbiography,CarolineMooreheadilluminatestheextraordinarylifeandremarkableachievementsofthisstrong,witty,elegant,opinionated,anddynamicwomanwhosurvivedpersonaltragedy,includingthelossofsixchildren,andperiodsofextremedanger,exile,poverty,andillness.Meticulouslyresearched,brilliantlywritten,andvastlyentertaining,Moorehead'schronicleofLucie'slifeisanincomparablesocialhistoryofhertimes.