A Sultry Month av Alethea Hayter

<p><b>Wine and dine with Victorian London¿s literati in a heatwave in one of the first ever group biographies, introduced by Francesca Wade (author of <i>Square Haunting</i>).</b><br><br><b><i>Though she loved the heat she could do nothing but lie on the sofa and drink lemonade and read </i>Monte Cristo<i> ¿</i></b><br><br>''<b>One of the most illuminating and insufficiently praised books of the last 60 years.'' </b><i>Observer</i><b><br>¿Never bettered.¿ </b><i>Guardian</i><br><b>''Brilliant.'' </b>Julian Barnes<br><b>¿W</b><b>holly original.¿</b> Craig Brown<br><b>¿A pathfinder.¿ </b>Richard Holmes<br><b>¿Extraordinary.¿ </b>Penelope Lively<br><br>June 1846. As London swelters in a heatwave ¿ sunstroke strikes, meat rots, ice is coveted ¿ a glamorous coterie of writers and artists spend their summer wining, dining and opining.<br><br>With the ringletted ¿face of an Egyptian cat goddess¿, Elizabeth Barrett is courted by her secret fianc¿the poet Robert Browning, who plots their elopem