London, The Wallace Collection, the present day. A smartly-dressed, modern woman sits facing Sir Thomas Lawrence’s magnificent portrait of the Countess of Blessington (1789 -1849). She is the countess herself – the most beautiful and best-read woman of her day – novelist, poet, scholar, traveller, editor, businesswoman, socialite, hostess and hedonist – returned to reveal, for the first time ever, the true and unvarnished story of her remarkable life.

With her celebrated sarcasm, cynicism and sardonic wit, she tells of murder, violence, blackmail, class conflict, libel and courtroom dramas, of twice being sold into matrimony, of romance, intrigue, sex and perversion, extravagance and ambition, politics and philosophy, softened with sentiment and pathos.

Bounty of a Stolen Empire is packed with unique Irish, English, French and even Italian history from the late Georgian to the early Victorian era. What really happened, why it happened, and the troubles it caused.