Unlikely Countess

Louise Carpenter was born in 1970 and grew up in Essex. She read English Literature at the University of London and worked as assistant editor of the Daily Telegraph Magazine, where she is now a writer and contributing editor. She lives in Bath with her family.

‘A spirited and sensitive account of one of the strangest lives imaginable. Louise Carpenter’s portrait of the life of Lily Budge is a classic of its kind: elegantly written, with a rare eye for detail and a shrewd and warm understanding of its extraordinary subject.’ William Boyd‘Louise Carpenter tells this sensational story without ever exaggerating its more eye-catching excesses. She is sensitive to all sides…a serious and profoundly moving book.’ Independent on Sunday‘An entertaining and moving memorial to [Lily’s] indomitable, colourful character. Wonderful.’ Telegraph‘Louise Carpenter is a biographer of real promise…Her account of this oddly matched couple struggling to get along in Britain’s high society is often amusing, sometimes touching…Painstakingly researched and very readable.’ Scottish Herald