Heiress is one of those words, like penthouse or superyacht, that invite schadenfreude. As Laura Thompson's excellent book makes clear, there is nothing more satisfying to the popular imagination than a poor little rich girl... [A] wonderfully entertaining book' ? Sunday Times'[A] deeply empathetic study of heiresses through the ages' ? The TimesExquisite and gossipy... Thompson, a gifted storyteller, obviously delighted in the writing of this book' ? TLSHugely entertaining... Thompson writes about her subjects' psyches with wit and insight' ? Sunday Business Post'Heiresses is a glorious book, endlessly entertaining and about much more than its stated subject. Through the lens of these very rich girls, we are given an opera-box view of money and class, women and men, crime and punishment. Thompson is a fabulous writer' -- Caroline O'Donoghue'I always enjoy Thompson's books and this sounds fabulous' ? The Bookseller'[A] fluent, readable study of wealthy women' ? Daily TelegraphWith plenty of gossip, scandal and witty insights on every page, Heiresses is undoubtedly an entertaining read from start to finish, telling stories that range from sad and heartbreaking to outrageous, frustrating and spectacularly glamorous... This is an intelligent, fascinating and infinitely readable book that's been structured well and offers such a wealth of brilliant material (not to mention an entirely new reading list to explore afterwards) that even the most casual of readers will not fail to be captivated by the lives of the Million Dollar Babies' ? CultureFlyAbsorbing study of women burdened by prodigious inheritances... Thompson presents a gossip-strewn survey of rich women with time on their hands' ? Financial Times'An entertaining introduction to the adventures of independently wealthy women in Britain over the past four centuries' ? BBC History Magazine'A fascinating account of the lives of women born filthy rich' ? Best magazine'An entertaining book ? who doesn't love a tale of excess, and there are plenty here!' ? This England'Laura Thompson is no stranger to the beau monde [...] Heiresses announces itself as exploring the phenomenon of the heiress from the 17th to the 21st centuries' ? The Oldie'Skillfully evoking disparate social milieus and generational divides, Thompson packs the narrative full of juicy gossip without resorting to caricature. Readers will be enthralled' ? Publishers Weekly Laura Thompson is the author of several critically acclaimed works of non-fiction. Her first book The Dogs: A Personal History of Greyhound Racing won the Somerset Maugham Award. Rex V. Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders was shortlisted for a CWA Dagger Award. She has written biographies of Nancy Mitford and Agatha Christie, A Different Class of Murder about the Lord Lucan scandal, The Last Landlady about her grandmother, and the New York Times-bestselling Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters.