Why a Booktrail?
1700s: The tragically unremembered yet extraordinary life of pioneering poet and feminist, Mary Wortley Montagu.
A Woman of Opinion
What you need to know before your trail
An aristocratic woman in 18th century England is expected to act in certain ways. But Mary has never let society’s expectations stifle her: she writes celebrated poetry and articles advocating for equality, as well as endless, often scandalous, letters to her many powerful friends.
However, Mary wants more from the world. Using her charm and connections, she engineers a job offer for her husband as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Travelling to Constantinople, Mary finally discovers the autonomous life she dreams of. And when she observes Turkish women ‘engrafting’ children against smallpox, she resolves to bring the miracle cure back to England.
Despite this, Mary’s reputation becomes increasingly tainted. Her inability to abide by the rules, her outspoken opinions on women’s rights, and her search for love and desire at all costs gains her powerful enemies. While Mary tries to ensure her name will live on by arranging the publication of her diaries after her death, her own daughter works against her, afraid of what they might contain…
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
England, Italy, France and the Ottoman Empire
York, Middlethorpe – Mary lived here in 1715, before moving to London. From here she gave her husband, Edward, advice on how to find a seat in the new parliament in the elections following the accession of George I. Middlethorpe Hall is the only place where Mary lived that still stands in 2024. A number of authors are applying for a blue plaque to commemorate her here.
Cavendish Square, London – Mary’s home for most of the 1720s and 1730s. From here she campaigned for immunisation against smallpox, fought to protect her sister, Frances, from the ‘lunacy inquisition’, collaborated with (and later fell out with) Alexander Pope, helped Voltaire during his exile in London and wrote her political periodical, ‘The Nonsense of Common Sense’.
Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey – Mary accompanied her husband to the Ottoman empire where he served as ambassador for less than two years. But it was the making of Mary, whose astonishing ‘Turkish Embassy Letters’ gave readers a dazzling insight into life in Turkey. It was also where she learnt about inoculation against smallpox – something she was determined to bring back to Britain.
A few background locations:
Venice, Italy – Where Mary came in 1739 in pursuit of the young Francesco Algarotti, with whom she had fallen in love.
Avignon, France – Mary arrived in Avignon in 1742. A Papal State at the time, it was where the Jacobite rising of 1745 was organised. Mary probably spied on the Jacobites and reported back to Hanoverian London.
Gottolengo, Brescia – Mary settled in this small village in 1746, and lived here for the next decade where she was revered. Here the villagers wanted to erect a statue to her, but she resisted, fearing that she would be ridiculed if news of it reached England.
Lovere, Italy – Mary spent her summers here in the 1750s and thought it the most beautiful place in the world. It is the only town in the world that today has a street named for her.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: A Woman of Opinion
Destination: London, Constantinople (Istanbul), Italy Author/guide: Sean Lusk Departure Time: 1700s
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