Compelling novel based on tempestuous marriage of Governor Sir George Grey and his young wife, Eliza Lu

A Crooked Rib

Judy Corbalis

Vintage -$38.00

Scandal and disgrace: a compelling novel based on the tempestuous marriage of New Zealand’s Governor Sir George Grey and his young wife, Eliza Lucy.

Trapped in an increasingly loveless union, Sir George Grey and his wife, Eliza Lucy, each sought affection elsewhere. When, despite his own indiscretions, Sir George accused his wife of flirting with Admiral Sir Henry Keppel aboard ship, scandal ensued. Cast off by her husband, Lady Grey was left ashore in Rio de Janeiro, while Sir George journeyed onto Cape Town; she was then vilified throughout Victorian high society.

Broadcast in naval circles and by The Times of London, her fall from grace eventually reached even the ears of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Meanwhile, the nature of Sir George’s liaison with his young Maori protégé remained the subject of speculation.

Lady Grey’s life is revealed through the perspective of the fictitious English orphan, Fanny Thompson, who is a witness to Sir George’s behaviour and provides an alternative perspective on the respected historical figure. But Fanny, too, finds herself drawn by the lure of an exotic culture and is forced to confront the nature of her own values.

Combining well-researched historical facts about the lives of the Greys with intriguing speculation, Judy Corbalis weaves together a tale of scandal in colonial high society in New Zealand and London. A Crooked Rib offers an alternative viewpoint of what Sir George Grey may have been like behind the façade of public office and examines the lives of women in New Zealand in the second half of the nineteenth century.

About the author:

Judy Corbalis was born and grew up in New Zealand but now lives in London. A former Hawthornden Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Women Leaders at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, she has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and was the inaugural Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art where she currently holds the post of Academic Support Tutor. 

Her adult novels include Tapu, and Mortmain, shortlisted for the 2009 Encore Award. She is married to the sculptor Phillip King, PPRA, and makes frequent visits to New Zealand.

Invitation from the Women's Bookshop.