Description
Queen of Whale Cay is the biography of Marion Barbara Casrstairs, an "invert" who reinvented herself as Joe, a leading light of the glamorous lesbian demi-monde in the 1920s. Casrstairs was born in 1900 and soon realized that she was not like other little girls. She began dressing like a man and became a leading light of the lesbian demi-monde. She smoked cheroots, tattooed her arms, and in the 1920s was celebrated as the "fastest woman on water" in Britain. However, Casrstairs tired of her celebrity and in 1934 she bought Whale Cay, an island in the West Indies, where she created her own kingdom and ruled over 500 imported Bahamians. Though she numbered Tallulah Bankhead and Marlene Dietrich among her conquests, her greatest love was reserved for an enigmatic twelve-inch doll, named Lord Tod Wadley, who was her constant companion throughout her astonishing life and death. Casrstairs' life is a jaw-droppingly amazing story that sparkles with enthusiastic research and empathetic writing.
In 1993, Marion Barbara Casrstairs died and Kate Summerscale, obituarist at The Daily Telegraph , stumbled upon one of the most remarkable lives of the twentieth century. Born in 1900, Marion soon realised she was not as other little girls and she reinvented herself as Joe, an 'invert' who dressed like a beautiful man and became a leading light of the glamorous lesbian demi-monde. She smoked cheroots, tattooed her arms and in the twenties was celebrated as the 'fastest woman on water'- Britain's premier female speedboat-racer. But she tired of her celebrity and in 1934 she bought Whale Cay, an island in the West Indies where she created her own kingdom, ruling over 500 imported Bahamians, and entertaining an eccentric collection of actresses, duchesses and priests. Though she numbered Tallulah Bankhead and Marlene Dietrich among her conquests, her greatest love was reserved for an enigmatic twelve-inch doll, named Lord Tod Wadley, who was her constant companion throughout her astonishing life and death.
Review:
She was crazy and brave and her story is jaw-droppingly amazing ... Great stuff Val Hennessy, Daily Mail A wonderful account of a truly extraordinary life Mail on Sunday A biography that sparkles with enthusiastic research and empathetic writing Sunday Times A small jewel of a biography The New Yorker A fascinating, hilarious and deliciously subversive book Literary Review
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