1993, ISBN: 1857026683

Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and a London Times bestseller, The Queen of Whale Cay is a marvelous portrait of one of the twentieth century's great eccentrics. When Marion "Joe" … More...

Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and a London Times bestseller, The Queen of Whale Cay is a marvelous portrait of one of the twentieth century's great eccentrics. When Marion "Joe" Carstairs died in 1993 at the age of ninety-three, she was largely forgotten. During the 1920s she held the world record as the fastest female speedboat racer. But as journalist Kate Summerscale discovered, when researching an obituary for the Daily Telegraph, Carstairs was also a notorious crossdresser who favored women and smoked cheroots. Supremely self-confident, she inherited a Standard Oil fortune and knew how to spend her money--on fast boats and cars, on her female lovers, and on a Caribbean Island, Whale Cay, where she reigned over a colony of Bahamians. There, far from her bohemian past in London and Paris, Carstairs hosted a succession of girlfriends and celebrities, including Marlene Dietrich and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Through it all, she remained devoted to Lord Todd Wadley, a little doll who was her bosom companion until the very end. "A small jewel of a biography." --The New Yorker "Riveting . . . reads like a fastpaced, truelife adventure. . . . A personal, intimate portrait of an outrageous, oddly admirable woman." --San Francisco Chronicle "Fun and funny. . . Summerscale tells her story with an affectionate, knowing eye . . . in a narrative style that captures the tone and spirit of Carstairs' ti americas,bahamas,biographical,biographies,biographies,biographies and history,biography and history,caribbean and west indies,fiction,gay and lesbian Lesbian, FOURTH ESTATE LTD<

ISBN: 9781857026689

"Joe" Carstairs was born in London in 1900, the daughter of a Scottish colonel and an American heiress. She was educated in Connecticut and returned to Europe in 1916, to drive ambulances… More...

"Joe" Carstairs was born in London in 1900, the daughter of a Scottish colonel and an American heiress. She was educated in Connecticut and returned to Europe in 1916, to drive ambulances for the Women's Legion in France. She deserted her husband at the church door (marriage having been a prerequisite of her coming into her $4 million inheritance) and settled in England, where she took up motor-boat racing, winning many trophies, and established a boatyard at Cowes. In the 1930s Carstairs began to travel the world and eventually settled in the West Indies, where she bought the island of Whale Cay. There she developed a community and embarked on a programme of building which ranged from roads and schools to lighthouses and churches. She established hegemony over the 500 islanders, controlling not only their sexual morals but also their diet. In 1944 she built a deep-water harbour for use by the Royal Navy and then, without a word to the islanders, left for Florida, where she spent 40 years, having built war-craft, run a steamship freight-line, and set up a chain of airports. This biography aims to bring out of obscurity an extraordinary woman.; Biography, Fourth Estate<

ISBN: 9781857026689

FOURTH ESTATE LTD. PAPERBACK. 1857026683 Very Good Condition. Crisp pages. Tight binding. Great reading copy. Slight shelf wear on cover. Some tanning. Some rubbing wear to cover ed… More...

FOURTH ESTATE LTD. PAPERBACK. 1857026683 Very Good Condition. Crisp pages. Tight binding. Great reading copy. Slight shelf wear on cover. Some tanning. Some rubbing wear to cover edges. Slightly creased cover. - All books inspected inside and out and shipped by USPS with a tracking number! I highly suggest that you choose expedited shipping. For a small fee you get priority shipping, insurance and a padded envelope for the best protection. . Very Good., FOURTH ESTATE LTD<