The Bolter, By Frances Osborne

Young, sparkling, beautiful (her “shot-away” chin was never a deterrent), wealthy and witty, Lady Idina Sackville could have had anyone. She almost did. She married five times, and wanted to marry again. Unflagging both in her duties and in her pleasures, she was the heart of Kenya’s notorious “Happy |Valley set”. By the time of her death |from cancer she had amassed as much grief as gaiety.

Born at the close of the 19th century, Idina grew up in a world where an upper- class woman was allowed to do almost anything – except divorce. This striking and sympathetic biography of the author’s great-grandmother can be read as an investigation into Idina’s decision to leave her kind and fabulously rich husband, Euan Wallace, and its long, fun-filled, grief-stricken aftermath. Hardly had she re-established bonds with her long-estranged sons when the Second World War took them from her.

Despite the laborious erotic “games” Idina contrived for her guests, she emerges as warm, kindly and rather sad; cursed with more energy and daring than she seemed able to expend with safety.

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