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Author and historian David Waller discusses Victorian literary salons and his book, The Magnificent Mrs. Tennant.

About David Waller

David Waller's new book, The Magnificent Mrs. Tennant, explores the remarkable life of this influential 19th-century matriarch. Born to modest circumstances in 1819, Gertrude Tennant rose to become one of the one of the most formidable hostesses of late-Victorian London. The greatest writers, artists and politicians of the age -- including scientist Thomas Huxley, painter John Everett Millais, poet Robert Browning and novelist Henry James -- clamored to attend her intellectual salons. Waller presents her rise from genteel poverty to member of the cultural zeitgeist, and discusses the influence of the late-Victorian salon.

Read a review of The Magnificent Mrs. Tennant from The Independent (UK).