MOORE, Lucy 1970-

PERSONAL: Born 1970. Education: Attended Edinburgh University.

ADDRESSES: Home—London, England. Agent—c/o Viking Publicity, Penguin Group, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014.

CAREER: Historian and journalist.

WRITINGS:

The Thieves' Opera (history), Viking (London, England) 1997, Harcourt Brace (New York, NY) 1998, published as The Thieves' Opera: The Riveting True Story of 18th-Century London's Most Notorious and Active Criminals, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000.

Amphibious Thing: The Life of Lord Hervey (biography), Viking (London, England), 2000.

(Editor) Con Men and Cutpurses: Scenes from the Hogarthian Underworld (history), Allen Lane (London, England), 2000, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Maharanis: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament (history), Viking (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: British historian Lucy Moore is the author of several books that provide interesting views of the lives of once-famous individuals. In her first book, The Thieves' Opera The Riveting True Story of 18th-Century London's Most Notorious and Active Criminals, Moore examines the exploits of master criminals Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild, who operated in early eighteenth-century London. Amphibious Thing: The Life of Lord Hervey is a study of a notorious English politician and overt homosexual who lived during the same time period. The author also introduces a new perspective on colonial life during the Victorian era in Maharanis: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament.

Eighteenth-century London is shown to be a dangerous, crime-ridden city in The Thieves' Opera. Moore introduces readers to the economic and political conditions within which two remarkable criminals came to prominence. Jonathan Wild was the unofficial "thief-taker general," a man who ran a large organized crime ring and made a show of finding lost valuables and turning in thieves. Jack Sheppard was a thief who refused to be part of Wild's schemes. He was a popular figure whom the public admired for the sense of humor evidenced in his robberies and for his contortionist's ability to escape prison. A Publishers Weekly critic found that "digressions prevent Wild and Sheppard from fully capturing readers' imaginations," but added that Moore "writes crisply and concretely." Among reviewers who commended Moore's debut, Jim G. Burns called The Thieves' Opera "an engaging and original social history" in a review for Library Journal. Entertainment Weekly writer Megan Harlan deemed the book "a rip-roaring historical chronicle."

Moore's biography of Lord Hervey, Amphibious Thing, presents the life of a man who was influential in the royal court and in politics. He was, as the title notes, also derided as the "painted child of dirt that stinks and stings" in Alexander Pope's "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot." Hervey was vice-chamberlain to the king's household from 1730 to 1740. An important pamphlet writer, he benefitted from his close associate to Britain's first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole. He had further political ambitions, but was undone by his affair with Steven Fox. In a review for the Economist, a critic said that Moore's "primary interest is in Hervey's personality and private life, finding him a surprisingly 'modern' man." The reviewer added, though, that the author is "occasionally gossipy and careless in detail." On the other hand, New Statesman reviewer Jonathan Ray remarked that "this excellent book has much of importance to say about the society, politics and attitudes of [Hervey's] day."

Maharanis shows how the lives of Indian women of royal birth changed, first under British rule and then during the transition to Indian independence. The central figures in the book are four related women. Chimnabai, who was born around 1872, not only broke purdah—a custom in which women were only seen by their husbands and a few servants—but she also helped found a women's movement in India. Chimnabai's daughter Indira broke with tradition, too, by refusing to accept an arranged marriage. She married a maharaja who died young, whereupon she ruled in his place and led a glamorous, jet-set life. Indira's mother-in-law was Sunity Devi, a pious woman who also became part of the women's movement and was an intimate friend of England's Queen Victoria. Granddaughter Ayesha stood on the shoulders of all three of these women, advancing her own social and political aspirations. Ayesha was a friend of Jackie Kennedy and, in pursuing a career in parliament, became an adversary of Indira Ghandi.

Maharani's book was welcomed as an alternative to works about the period that focus on male political figures. It is a "refreshing" alternative, according to Library Journal contributor Lisa Klopfer, though she tired of the occasionally "interminable descriptions of costumes, jewelry, vehicles, and servants." A Publishers Weekly reviewer also found the text to be "sometimes stiff," but concluded that Moore's "fly-on-the-wall approach gives [the women's] … triumphs and struggles immediacy." Maharanis was described by Lee Langley in Spectator as "a vivid and richly detailed book." The reviewer further remarked that it "offers the surging dynastic rivalry and rebellious love of a romantic novel, but the author does not neglect the politics."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 1998, Margaret Flanagan, review of The Thieves' Opera, p. 1934; November 15, 2004, Donna Seaman, review of Maharanis: The Extraordinary Tale of Four Indian Queens and Their Journey from Purdah to Parliament, p. 549.

Economist, October 14, 2000, "Targets of Satire—Reptile Cherub," review of Amphibious Thing: The Life of Lord Hervey, p. 105.

Entertainment Weekly, September 11, 1998, Megan Harlan, review of The Thieves' Opera, p. 128.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2004, review of Maharanis, p. 1039.

Library Journal, June 15, 1998, Jim G. Burns, review of The Thieves' Opera, p. 95; February 1, 2005, Lisa Klopfer, review of Maharanis, p. 98.

New Statesman, October 30, 2000, Jonathan Ray, "Rake's Progress," review of Amphibious Thing, p. 56.

Publishers Weekly, July 13, 1998, review of The Thieves' Opera, p. 70; January 3, 2005, review of Maharanis, p. 49.

Spectator, September 18, 2004, Lee Langley, "Breaking out of Purdah," review of Maharanis, p. 55.