sadly a boring book about a very interesting true story ( )

http://thenovelworld.com/2011/09/26/la-grand-therese-hilary-spurling-review/ ( )

3421. La Grande Therese The Greatest Scandal of the Century, by Hilary Spurling (read Mar 19, 2001) This book, by the author of a good biography of Paul Scott (which I read with appreciation on Nov 10, 1991), tells of Therese (nee Daurignac) Humbert, who was born in 1856 and was the central figure in what is called the Humbert Swindle. It is a fantastic story, but this book does not tell it well, the chronology being confused and the documentation sparse. One of the two least worthwhile books I read this month. (The other was The Triple Crown, by Valerie Pirie.) ( )

Interesting on the background of the case (strongly hostile to some of the lawyers involved) but very weak on developments of the case itself. ( )

a romp through the story of a remarkable confidence trickster - quick and easy to read, but I would have liked a little more context - why was this a scandal that risked bringing down the Third Republic? ( )