author
Harriette Wilson
1786–1846
A notorious figure of Regency London, she turned scandal into literature with a memoir that made her famous far beyond fashionable society. Her sharp, candid voice still gives the book its bite.
1 Audiobook
The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson, Volumes One and Two Written by Herself
by Harriette Wilson
About the author
Born in London in 1786, Harriette Wilson became one of the best-known courtesans of the Regency era. She is remembered not only for her place in fashionable society, but also for writing The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson: Written by Herself, published in 1825.
The memoir made her name even more famous because it mixed personal history, social observation, and pointed gossip about powerful men. Her life became closely linked with the glitter and moral contradictions of early 19th-century Britain, and her book remains one of the period's most vivid insider accounts.
Although many details of her life have been repeated in sensational ways over time, her lasting importance comes from her voice on the page: bold, funny, self-aware, and impossible to ignore. She died in 1845, but her memoirs still stand as a lively window into Regency celebrity and scandal.