The Countess: Seduction, power and the extraordinary life of Emily Cowper
Author(s): Jehanne Wake (Author), Katie Wake (Author)
- Publisher: Ithaka
- Publication Date: 25 Jun. 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 320 pages
- ISBN-10: 1804183717
- ISBN-13: 9781804183717
Book Description
‘Riveting’ — The Times
‘A triumph’ — David Kynaston
‘Lively and informative‘ — Miranda Seymour
‘The resurrection of a remarkable woman erased from history‘ — Katy Hessel
‘Extraordinary‘ — Peter Jones
The spellbinding true story of Emily Cowper, Regency socialite turned Victorian powerbroker
Emily, Countess Cowper was stubborn, beautiful and intensely ambitious. She took Regency society by storm, captivating famous statesmen and the young Queen Victoria.
Born the Hon. Emily Lamb, she was brought up at the centre of glamorous Regency high society with its duels and dissipation. Her godmother was the infamous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and Lord Byron an acolyte and admirer. When her marriage to Earl Cowper soured, she took a string of lovers, eventually taming a rake: the promising, promiscuous Lord Palmerston.
Emily’s life resembled real life
Bridgerton – she even inspired the character Cressida Cowper. But her petticoats and parties belied a steely determination. Yearning for power beyond the ballroom, she used her political genius to engineer the premierships of her brother, Lord Melbourne, and her lover, Lord Palmerston. Once in Downing Street, she acted as chief counsel, speechwriter, press officer and tireless schemer for the Whig cause – from women’s rights to the eradication of slavery. By proxy she became one of the most powerful people in England and changed the course of history. But her story has never been told – until now.
Written with novelistic richness and extraordinary detail drawn from thousands of intimate letters and journals.
The Countess unveils the life of this exceptional woman and offers a new insight into the time in which she lived.
Editorial Reviews
Review
A riveting biography of the indefatigable Emily Cowper. . . This book is a refreshing antidote to the oceans of space devoted to the clothes worn by the wives of contemporary prime ministers. Its authors have given due weight to a woman who used style, guile and persuasion to be the power behind not one but two prime ministers — Daisy Goodwin ― The Times
The Wakes have cleverly spotted that Emily’s story needed to be told, and proceed to do so with empathy and at a cracking pace ―
Daily Mail
The resurrection of a remarkable woman erased from history — Katy Hessel, author of A History of Art Without Men
A triumph: not only a richly sympathetic portrait of a fascinating aristocratic woman, but also a revealing window into a whole scandal-riven world in which the political and the personal were inextricably entwined. Meticulously researched, unfailingly humane in its judgements, and sprinkled throughout with lovely touches of humour and colour,
The Countess is in its range of characters and drama a wonderfully compelling read — David Kynaston, author of Tales of a New Jerusalem
A lively and informative book about Emily Cowper, whose interesting life certainly justifies a biography — Miranda Seymour, author of I Used to Live Here Once
Book Description
The spellbinding biography of Emily Cowper, Regency socialite turned Victorian powerbroker.
About the Author
Jehanne Wake is a biographer and historian. She grew up in the Middle East and holds an MA from the University of Oxford. She worked on Wall Street as an investment banker before returning to the UK to become a writer. Her published works include Princess Louise, Queen Victoria’s Unconventional Daughter (Harper Collins) and Kleinwort Benson, The History of Two Families in Banking (OUP). She is most recently the author of Sisters of Fortune (Chatto & Windus, PRH) which won widespread critical praise from The New York Times to The Sunday Times. Over the years she has been a contributor to BBC radio and television programmes and C-Span’s Book TV, as well as the Oxford New Dictionary of National Biography, and the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Katie Wake is a partner and board director at Flint Global, a leading political advisory firm, based in London. She started out in journalism, writing and editing for the
New Statesman, Sunday Times and Literary Review. In 2009 she joined the civil service fast stream and spent nearly a decade in Whitehall as an adviser to five Cabinet Ministers from across the political spectrum. She holds a BA in History from the University of Bristol and an MPhil in History of the USA from the University of Oxford. This is her first book.
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