Overall I enjoyed reading this biography of notorious international celebrity Lola Montez. Her life was certainly unusual, indeed outrageous, especially for the time, and the author has done her research to good effect. Lola certainly wasn’t in any way likeable, indeed seemed completely unhinged at times, but the trajectory of her life makes for a good story. The author places her in her time and place and the historical context is both useful and intriguing. But I don’t feel that the book really knew what it wanted to be – a straight biography or historical fiction. There are so many imagined conversations, which are stilted and unconvincing, that for me this really detracted from the factual side. I can’t believe anyone would have spoken in dialogue quite like that which the author made up! It really jarred with me – and irritated me. Quite spoilt the book. Plus it was a bit too long and somewhat repetitive. But it gave me the opportunity to learn about Lola Montez and for that I forgive its flaws.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. This book was a bit of a surprise for me. I didnt know anything about her but this book was very well written and captivating. It also seemed very well researched

I received this as a e-Galley from NetGalley.

After watching season 2 of Dickinson I was interested in learning more about Lola Montez- and there ya go Cristina Morató wrote a biography about her.

Lola Montez's life is like 243525x more interesting than you could ever imagine.

Divine Lola is an interesting mix of historical fiction and biography. The author, Cristina Morató, has done a good job of weaving the two styles together to create a book that captures your attention. The translator, Andrea Rosenberg, has brought the story to life in digestible English that’s enjoyable to read.

I have to admit before I read Divine Lola I’d never heard of Lola Montez, and I’d definitely never heard of Eliza Gilbert (Lola’s real identity). However, she is absolutely fascinating..

I enjoyed Morató’s approach to this book because she didn’t just focus on Lola’s romantic life, but on Lola as a person. We find out her likes, dislikes, thoughts, what makes her tick. The book gives a huge amount of detail about seemingly unimportant facts, but when you put them all together you get a clearer idea of why Eliza Gilbert became Lola Montez. The way that the author has portrayed Lola isn’t favourable, but I appreciate this honesty. To be a single woman during this historical period, followed by scandal and celebrity, mustn’t have been an easy feat. So, portraying her as a strong and rather ruthless character is completely appropriate. Lola is definitely not a loveable character, but she does lead an interesting life—which makes for a fascinating biography.

I enjoyed learning about Lola Montez, I had never really known anything about her. This book was a really well done and kept me invested when reading this.

Neither a true biography nor a true work of fiction, but a hybrid of both, Cristina Morato’s Divine Lola is an accessible story of a fascinating woman: Eliza “Lola” Gilbert is a larger-than-life character, worthy of a limited series on the streaming platform of your choice, with a veritable who’s who of friends and acquaintances. Sure, she was famous for her scandalous “spider” dance, but she touched a lot more lives than those who saw her perform.

What I liked about this book was that there was enough history to provide context without overwhelming the extrapolated dialogue. Balance is key, and Morato struck exactly the right one. She also used a fabulous literary device, opening the book after Lola has died, making the entire narrative a flashback, in a sense, thus showing how much impact the woman really had.

Because this is a translation, it’s hard to know if the flow of the language is the work of Andrea Rosenberg, the translator, or the author herself, but either way, it’s an easy read, contemporary enough to be accessible, and yet still “period” enough to not be jarring.

The publisher referenced the song “Whatever Lola Wants,” (Lola gets) in the introduction to the book and that’s the song that came to mind as I got well into this story. The Lola who captivated London audiences when she was on stage and later stole the heart of King Ludwig was at times the most self-centered and egotistical woman I’ve ever met in the pages of a book.

However, she was also an incredibly strong woman, not daunted by the horrific conditions in parts of India where her husband was stationed or the great disappointment of of being sent back to England after her husband’s death. I felt sorry for Lola, who was born as Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert, for having a mother who was jealous of her beauty and seemed to not ever have truly loved this child of hers.

But I didn’t feel sorry for Lola for long. I actually felt sorrier for King Ludwig.

Still, I had to admire a woman who could accomplish so much and find her way out of whatever hole in which she found herself.

I highly recommend this book to those interested in history, especially small segments of history that perhaps are unfamiliar. For instance, it was fascinating to see what it was like for people in theater at that time, and I found the peek into the life of the nobility in Paris likewise intriguing. It amused me to read how ladies would change clothes frequently throughout the day because they couldn’t be seen at a luncheon in the same outfit they had worn to a morning social gathering. Then again they had to change for afternoon at the races and yet again for the evening meals. I laughed because I change clothes frequently because of a broken body temperature regulator. I wonder if I could put myself in the same category as the Parisian elite?

Eh, probably not.

Do add this well-written and researched book to your reading list.

A bit of a slug to get through as it does tend to repeat itself over and over and over and over. Lola doesn't really have the most redeeming qualities as a person, in fact, she was kind of an awful person with terrible morals and no real regard for anyone other than herself.

That said, this was an interesting way of reading and learning about someone who I knew just a little about.

Some heavy editing and this could have been a much more engaging read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.