In his new novel, A Woman of Opinion, Sean Lusk tells the story of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, based closely on her own published letters. Montagu, whom I previously knew almost nothing about, lived from 1689 to 1762, and was an English writer, poet and medical pioneer. She led a fascinating life and I enjoyed seeing it unfold through the pages of this novel.
A Woman of Opinion begins in 1712 with Mary eloping with Edward Wortley Montagu in order to avoid being pushed into marriage to her father’s choice of husband, the Irish nobleman Clotworthy Skeffington. Edward is a Whig politician and the two settle in London for a few years until, growing impatient with her husband’s lack of ambition and desperate to see more of the world, Mary manages to engineer a job offer for him as ambassador to Constantinople.
While Edward is busy trying to negotiate an end to the Austro-Turkish War, Mary gets to know some of the local Turkish women and is intrigued when she observes them inoculating their children against smallpox, through the method of ‘engrafting’ – taking pus from an infected person and introducing it into the arm or leg of an uninfected child. Mary, who has suffered from smallpox herself and been left with scarring to the face, is so impressed by the results of this procedure that when she returns to England she becomes determined to inoculate as many children as possible.
Most of the novel is narrated by Mary herself – in a formal, eloquent style that fits the 18th century setting, with no glaringly anachronistic language – but some chapters are narrated by her sister, Frances. Unlike Mary, who is the strong, independent ‘woman of opinion’ of the title, Frances has a gentler, more trusting nature. She is easier to like than Mary but her story is much less interesting and I didn’t feel that her perspective really added anything to the book.
Although the Constantinople episode is the most engaging part of the novel, Mary’s life continued to be eventful after her return. She formed a friendship and then a rivalry with the poet Alexander Pope, travelled to Italy where she began an affair with Count Francesco Algarotti, and produced a number of poems and essays. She also left behind her collection of letters, which were published in three volumes after her death as Turkish Embassy Letters (and are still in print today). Her other lasting legacy – her role in the development of the smallpox vaccine – has been overshadowed by Edward Jenner and I’m pleased that this novel has been able to raise some awareness of her contributions.
I enjoyed A Woman of Opinion much more than Sean Lusk’s debut, The Second Sight of Zacahary Cloudesley, which I felt had an unnecessary magical realism element and lost its way halfway through. However, I discovered from Lusk’s author’s note at the end of this book that one of the characters in Zachary Cloudesley was also based on Mary Wortley Montagu. If you’ve read both books, I’ll leave you to guess which one!
Thanks to Doubleday for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
This is book 9/20 of my 20 Books of Summer 2024.
Book 27/50 for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2024
She Reads Novels 
List of sound interesting, but I mean it’s on the name Clotworthy Skeffington. That’s an all timer!
Clotworthy Skeffington was a real person. I can understand why Mary didn’t want to marry him, with a name like that!
Sorry for the bad voice to text errors there! Hopefully you get the jist 😅
I did – don’t worry! 🙂
I knew of her story in outline but hadn’t remembered her name, so I’m so glad you’ve drawn attention to this novel from Lusk, Helen – especially as I’ve still not picked up my copy of his previous title to read!
She led such an interesting life I’m surprised she’s not a more popular subject for historical fiction. I did like the previous Lusk novel as well, but this was definitely my favourite of the two.
This is on my Amazon wishlist, but I haven’t got it yet. Clotworthy Skeffington is an amazing name!
I’m not surprised Mary eloped rather than marry somebody with a name like that! I hope you enjoy the book when you get it.
I tried to read an abridged volume of her letters but didn’t get too far with it. I recently read a book about Catherine the Great bringing the smallpox vaccine to Russia, which included a brief history of smallpox, and Mary Wortley Montagu was credited with helping establish the practice in England. This book might work better for me than the letters themselves.
I had been wondering whether to try reading the letters, so I’m sorry to hear you didn’t get on very well with them.
Hmm, I might try this one.
I found it really interesting.
She did lead a fascinating life! Not an easy thing for a woman to do back then.
Yes, she was ahead of her time.
I love it when an author finds a particularly fascinating woman’s story to bring to life.
Thanks for sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and for your ongoing participation
Mary was certainly a fascinating woman!