At the age of sixteen, Catherine Tylney Long became the wealthiest heiress in England, and the public found their 'angel'. Witty, wealthy and beautiful, Catherine, the most eligible of young ladies, was courted by royalty but, ignoring the warnings of her closest confidantes, she married for love. Her choice of husband was the charming but brutish libertine William Wellesley Pole, nephew of the Duke of Wellington.

The pair excited the public's interest on an unprecedented scale with gossip columns reporting every detail of their magnificent home in Wanstead where they hosted glittering fetes, dinners and sumptuous parties. But their happiness was short-lived; just a decade later the feckless William had frittered away Catherine's inheritance and the couple were forced to flee to France. Catherine hoped for a fresh start but as the couple travelled around Europe William became embroiled in a series of scandals that shocked the public and culminated in a landmark court case.

Vivid, detailed and compelling, The Angel and the Cad is a tale of love and betrayal that twists and turns until the final page.

£20

Geraldine Roberts gives a compassionate look at two wholly disparate personalities and the wider society in which they span their elegant, and ultimately ruinous, lives.