ENID

Sub-titled 'The Scandalous High-Society Life of the Formidable Lady Killmore'. Enid Lindeman stopped traffic in Manhattan, silenced gamblers in Monte Carlo, and walked her pet cheetah through Hyde Park on a diamond collar. She stood almost six feet tall with silver hair and flashing turquoise eyes. In early 20th century society where women were expected to be demure and obedient, Enid gallivanted through life accumulating four husbands and numerous lovers, her high-jinks fascinating British gossip columnists during the inter-war years. She drove an ambulance in World War One and hid escaped Allied airmen behind enemy lines in World War Two, played bridge with Somerset Maugham and entertained Hollywood royalty in the world's most expensive private home on the Riviera, allegedly won in a game of cards. Enid bedazzled men with her beauty, outlived four husbands - two shipping magnates, a war hero and a larger-than-life Irish Earl - spent two great fortunes and earned the nickname 'Lady Killmore'. From Sydney to New York, London to Paris and Cairo to Kenya, Robert Wainwright's biography restores the remarkable Enid to thrilling, vivid life and her contributions to fashion, culture, architecture, and horse racing across three continents. Enid is admirable for her loyalty, generous spirit and disregard for the strictures of polite society and we go with her into the winemaking industry in Australia to horse breeding in Kenya and South Africa. 356pp, paperback with many archive photos.