Fascinating, beautifully written and meticulously researched

An absorbing investigation, serious, radical and feminist in its politics, entertaining in its delivery

Offers us an invaluable glimpse into the hidden history of domestic service in an absorbing narrative, beautifully written with the sensibility of a poet

A compelling portrait of how rich and poor women of this time were locked into a strange and pernicious symbiosis, and a vital warning against social inequality

Rounding shows that ... the reality is far more interesting than any of the fictions.

For a sense of Catherine's intimate life, sexual appetites, preoccupations, ruthlessness, intellectual scope, sentimentality and dedication, this is a great piece of work.

Rounding's respectful take is highly appropriate ... Through her eyes, we see a woman committed to Enlightenment values ... Catherine was both a highly sexual woman and an intellectual; there is nothing anyone need add to her story. It is all there.

Densely detailed and always absorbing.

My way through this book was punctuated by giggles and snorts of laughter, and I will be dipping into it for a long time to come