Pearced

Adultery, illegitimacy and loitering at stage doors, the Pearce men found time for more than just shipbuilding and politics. Meet seven women whose lives were changed by the Pearce men. Adelaide, a young woman who found herself in a relationship with an older, wealthier man and being whisked off from Glasgow to London to become his mistress. Elizabeth, a dancer from Austria who finds herself mother to two illegitimate children and whose life meets a tragic end. Gwendoline thinks she has control over the situation with her married lover but ends up with a lot less than she had bargained for. Maud was making a life for herself on the London stage before she fell in love with a young barrister, who was quick to turn his back on her when his fortune changed. Florrie was the illegitimate daughter of an actress and a violinist, who had little choice but to become an actress herself. Will her dashing, charming baronet give her the life that she desires? Carrie was on the stage by the age of five and, with siblings, became the darlings of Victorian London, but would life as an adult actor be as rewarding as that of a child one, or would Carrie find that a wealthy Baronet offered a better life? Finally, Lady Dinah Pearce, wife, and mother of two headstrong, flawed men. Could she rise above the failings of the men in her life, remain strong in her Christian beliefs, and have a fulfilling life? Discover not only the facts but also the fiction of these seven women as their lives are imagined by a twentieth century woman who wanted to give them a chance to tell their stories.