The Fortunate Mistress: or, a History of the Life of Mademoiselle de Bealau Known by the Name of Lady Roxana

By Daniel Defoe

Defoe's last and darkest novel, is the autobiography of a woman who has traded her virtue, at first for survival, and then for fame and fortune. Its narrator tells the story of her own 'wicked' life as the mistress of rich and powerful men. A resourceful adventuress, she is also an unforgiving analyst of her own susceptibilities, who tells us of the price she pays for her successes. Endowed with many seductive skills, she is herself seduced: by money, by dreams of rank, and by the illusion that she can escape her own past. Unlike Defoe's other penitent anti-heroes, however, she fails to triumph over these weaknesses. Roxana's fame lies not only in the heroine's 'vast variety of fortunes', but in her attempts to understand the sometimes bitter lessons of her life as a 'Fortunate Mistress'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Classics
• Release date: Feb 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781633558205

Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), son of a London butcher, James Foe, took the pen name Defoe in 1703, the year he was pilloried and jailed for publishing a notorious attack on the religious hypocrisy and intolerance of the English political class. His imprisonment ruined his lucrative trade as a merchant but made him a popular figure with the public. Freed by the intervention of rising statesman Robert Harley, Defoe became a renowned journalist, but also a government spy. Robinson Crusoe, his first work of fiction, was published in his sixtieth year, but was soon followed by other lasting novels, including The Life and Adventures of Mr Duncan Campbell, Moll Flanders, A Journal of the Plague Year and Roxana.

Reviews for The Fortunate Mistress

[briannad84 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm glad women have come farther than this!

[thewasp_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Roxana" takes a big breath and begins her narrative - and appears to not take another until the end. There are no chapters - just a need to get her story told. Although sometimes a little tedious I was also compelled to keep reading ."Roxana" abandoned by her husband and, left poor and starving, is no longer able to support her 5 children who she abandons. Because of her youthful beauty, she eventually improves her circumstances by becoming mistress to various wealthy men. (HavIng more children that she does not raise). Her greatest love is money. Her close companion and support. Is her "maid" Amy, Eventually as a middle aged woman, and at the end of her narrative, she must face her past.

[rrriles · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I slogged through this while reviewing 30 other books for my written exams, so I may not have been in the best possible mood to enjoy literature.