It is meticulously and enthusiastically researched... It is a good read, and for any student of the C18th and early C19th, I think the coincidences and networks revealed between the ‘great and the good’, and an ordinary citizen like Charlotte, would fill in some of the gaps and lacunae of the social and political life of that period.

The North West History Journal - October/November 2023

I would recommend A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs for anyone who is interested in learning about a little-known woman from history whose story, alternatively tragic and triumphant, deserves to be known.

Read the full review here

Reading Treasure

Major and Murden form a compelling portrait of the previously elusive Charlotte, offering up a meaningful contribution to the ongoing feminist project of recovery.

Read the full review here

Women's Studies Group 1558 – 1837

As featured by

Lincolnshire Echo, 11th October 2018

As featured in

Boston Target/East Lindsey Target, 10th October 2018

I found this story very intriguing and written in a style that kept me wanting to know what happened next. If you’re looking for something a little different in the way of biography, then check this one out. I definitely recommend it.

Click here to read the full review

A Line From A Book

Article by authors, Charlotte's royal celebration, as published in

Western Daily Press (Bristol), 27th August 2018

Reading the first few pages of this absorbing biography, it is hard to believe that the authors haven't concocted a wild historical spoof, for this truly is an amazing story.

Jane Austen's Regency World, May/June 2018 – reviewed by Joceline Bury.

It was a fascinating read, bringing to life Rachel Charlotte Williams Briggs and her times. Drawing on several primary sources to delve into the life of this interesting woman, who would undoubtedly be better known if she was a man.

The writing flows well and the images used are pertinent.

Read the complete review here.

Rosie Write's Blog, Rosemarie Cawkwell

Highly recommended.

Read the review online here.

Naomi Clifford, Author

Drawing on extensive research, Major and Murden piece together the particulars of Biggs' life as best they can from personal writing and other archival finds, while being judicious in maintaining skepticism about certain episodes.

Lincolnshire Life, March 2018

In an age when society had certain expectations of women Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs stands out. She emerged from an unhappy marriage to become a playwright and author, a political pamphleteer, and a spy, working for the British Government and later singlehandedly organising George III s jubilee celebrations. Trapped in France during the revolutionary years of 1792-95, she published an anonymous account of her adventures. The extraordinary Mrs Biggs lived life upon her own terms in an age when it was a man’s world, using politicians as her mouthpiece in the Houses of Parliament and corresponding with the greatest men of the day.

Julian Stockwin - Action-adventure historical fiction

As featured in

Antiques Diary, March-April 2018

A few things that I loved about this book was one that it was such a light read but also that it had a fast-paced narrative. Another thing that I loved about this book was learning about Rachel and how fearless and independent that she was even though it was not that common for a woman to be both fearless and independent during the Regency Era. Rachel did so much in her life for example: she was an author, playwright, female politician, a spy and even an inciter of propaganda. Countless times she put her own life at risk and her health to support her own beliefs. It is very clear to see that Rachel was most definitely a Georgian Heroine.

Overall, A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs by Joanne Major and Sarah Murden was an extremely fair and balanced account of a truly remarkable and trailblazer Regency woman.

Read the complete review here.

Where There's Ink There's Paper, Lauren Gent

A remarkable story, beautifully told.

Click here to read the full review.

Books Monthly, January 2018 - reviewed by Paul Norman

Abducted, raped, an author and playwright, the British heroine of this book was also imprisoned in Paris during the French Revolution, later returning to traverse France as a British government spy ... and the remarkable thing is, it's not fiction, but a meticulously researched and well-referenced biography.

You only need a basic understanding of Georgian history to be able to follow the twists and turns of a quite extraordinary - and surprisingly well-connected life. Vanity Fair was satirical fiction. This is the real thing. Enjoy!

Amazon review by Dr. Karen E. McAulay

I could not recommend a more delightful heroine to you than Charlotte. The authors have done a thoroughly researched job of bringing her story to light in a fast-paced narrative. I recommend it!

Click here to read the full review

Regan Romance Review Blogspot

Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, or simply Charlotte Biggs, as she is known for most of the book, is something of an enigma. She was clearly a woman who did not fit at all into the 18th century mould. Of middle-class origins, she overcame the early destruction of her reputation to become a self-made woman with the ear of some of the most famous politicians of the era.

It makes for a fascinating story, and the tale of Mrs Biggs – if, indeed, she was ever truly 'Mrs Biggs', but that's a story for the book to tell – is closely intertwined with that of revolutionary France and Britain's counter-revolutionary efforts on the other side of the Channel. Like another of Major and Murden's subjects, Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Charlotte Biggs was trapped in France when the revolution reached its most dangerous period. Charlotte escaped, and what she had seen and heard helped form the rest of her life.

At times she was a 'female politician', advising MPs on French and British domestic affairs; at others she was a loyalist advocate, single-handedly providing the spur for the jubilee celebrations in 1809 to celebrate George III's fifty years on the throne. She was probably a spy, returning to France after the fall of Napoleon to report home on continental attitudes and goings-on.

This book is the result of what must have been a tremendous amount of detective work. Charlotte is often allowed to tell her story in her own words, and the authors make no attempt to conceal the ambiguity of some aspects of it. Given that what remains is only a partial record, often written for audiences from whom Charlotte had motives to hide the whole truth, she is difficult to pin down on the page, but the end product is a very fair and balanced portrait of one of the Regency era's most remarkable – and most unknown – women.

Review by author Jacqueline Reiter

Guest blog post as featured by

Anna M. Thane

Guest blog post as featured by

Author Naomi Clifford

Guest blog post as featured by

Author Sue Wilkes

★★★★ The authors have pieced together a great amount of detail from Charlotte’s life.

Read the complete review here.

Rosie Amber