Enid Maud, a grandchild of wine pioneer Henry Lindeman, was born in 1892. Aged 21, her beauty catches the eye of Roderick Cameron, a wealthy American. They marry and he takes his bride to America.A son, Rory, is born but the joy is short-lived. Roderick is diagnosed with cancer and dies soon after. Enid returns to Australia, a widow at 23.

In 1916, she and Rory sail to Europe. In Paris, she pays for an ambulance to be built and travels the perilous roads to the battle front to bring back the wounded. Her courage, beauty and boldness do not go unnoticed. She receives many offers of marriage but declines them all. Walter Carandini Wilson, the grandson of an Italian nobleman, serving on the General Staff of the British Army in Paris, was still a bachelor when he died in 1968, leaving his estate to Enid and her children.

Many years into the future, Enid receives a phone call from a Mrs Erskine, whose husband, a retired general, was dying, wanting to know where Enid intended to be buried when she died. Her husband had always loved Enid and, as he was not able to be beside her in life, he wanted to be beside her in death. Enid must make a decision as Mrs Erskine did not intend to keep digging him up.

Enid, a bewitching, glamorous, Australian, goes on to marry three more times: a war hero who becomes a Brigadier-General; a shipping magnate who becomes a Viscount and sits in the House of Lords; and a wealthy landowner who becomes an Earl.

Her fascinating, unconventional life – full of scandal, privilege and enormous wealth – is so unbelievable, the author confesses he had difficulty separating myth from reality. One of the most entertaining books I’ve ever read.

Reviewed by Clive Hodges