Courtesans, muses, comforters and beauties... why have these women sacrificed companionship, status and children for love? From Heloise to Camilla Parker Bowles, this excellent overview shows that the key to survival is understanding the difference between loving and possessing. Opinion and explanation may differ, but as the author concludes: if there are wives, there will always be mistresses. [Aura, July 2000]

'As long as there is Marriage, there will also be the Mistress,' concludes Victoria Griffin, a self-confessed and committed serial mistress, at the end of her breathless romp through the stories of history's most famous mistresses from mythology to the present day. The hardback edition was reviewed by the recently betrayed Margaret Cook, who, like other critics, accused Griffin of over-simplification, poor feminist values and lack of sympathy for the wife. Griffin is guilty on all counts: this is unmistakably a manifesto for the romantic ideal of a mistress, but it is wickedly entertaining. 'The other woman' is an alluring subject and Griffin's style is suitably seductive. [Independent on Sunday, 11 June 2000]

A provocative and entertaining survey of a form of life which, Griffin argues, is taking some dislodging from our amatory patterns... She is particularly good on courtesans and draws an interesting parallel between Diane de Poitiers, Henry II's mistress, and the equally horsey Camilla Parker-Bowles. Griffin handles her material deftly. The Mistress is irrestistible, worth buying for its chapter on George Eliot alone. [The Good Book Guide, October 1999]

Other pages on this site: George Eliot, Diane de Poitiers, Camille Claudel, Gwen John

Contact Victoria Griffin at heloise.abelard@btinternet.com