Fanny Kemble: A Reluctant Celebrity

Born into a theatrical dynasty, Fanny Kemble lacked the rest of her family's desire to perform. But when their theatre at Covent Garden was threatened with closure in 1829, Fanny reluctantly volunteered to take to the stage. The young actress's debut was a huge success and her life as a nineteenth-century celebrity had begun. Soon Fanny found herself a slave to the stage, paraded around the country by her avaricious father. On a tour of the US she saw a chance to escape in the form of the charming Pierce Butler. However, in marrying him, Fanny had merely cast aside one set of chains for another: Pierce would not tolerate her independence. Fanny was to discover another abhorrent side of her husband -- his money came from plantations in America's South maintained by the slavery system she had grown to loathe. In protest, she set about writing the book that made her the scandal of American society, JOURNAL OF A RESIDENCE ON A GEORGIAN PLANTATION, and her marriage collapsed in the midst of Civil War.