Reading this lively biography of Australia's first international superstar, Dame Nellie Melba, made me realise how far society has come in just over a century. Whether we browse the so-called women's magazines at the hairdresser with bemusement, read the scandal rag headlines surreptitiously in the checkout queue, or just puzzle over the #TwitterHashtags that are trending — celebrity culture is all around us. Paradoxically, because we are inured to it, it takes a good deal to scandalise us, and it enhances some careers rather than otherwise.

But it was a different world when Nellie Melba was forging her international career. Scandal in high society could be disastrous in all sorts of contexts, more so in stuffy turn-of-the-century London than more tolerant Paris. Europe, however, had its own political minefields for a naïve Australian to negotiate when she (imprudently married to a wife-basher called Charles Armstrong) embarked on an affair with a playboy claimant to the French throne.

I have previously read Ann Blainey's authoritative biography of Melba and enjoyed it for its insights into the talent, initiative and determination of this Australian musical icon. But, as you can tell from the blurb, Robert Wainwright's bio has a different emphasis...

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/10/16/nellie-the-life-and-loves-of-dame-nellie-mel... ( )