What a wonderful, feel-good book that is great for fans of Her Grace or people just wanting positivity in their hands. I have followed Duchess Goldblatt on Twitter for a long time, now, mostly through other accounts I followed who happened to follow her, too. The wit, the tone, the language are all so perfect, and they translated well to the book.

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt tells the story of Anonymous, the author behind the character, interspersed with Duchess' tweets. Anonymous is human, flawed, pained at times. But Duchess is none of those things. She is a world-famous author and legend who invites people into her realm of Crooked Path and offers humor and kindness. I finished this book with a wistful smile on my face.

My thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s a tough world out there for fictional characters. They can be overwritten or underwritten, written in and written out. Their innermost thoughts and desires are, to overwork the poor metaphor, an open book. They can be bended, folded, spindled and mutilated --- and sent out in the sequel to do it all over again.

Fictional characters are, above all, the lawful prey of the author, who is routinely admonished to chase them up trees and throw stones at them. Writers are allowed to do things to fictional characters that would send them to the penitentiary in any other context --- and they get paid for the privilege. Further down the food chain, fictional characters are subject to the rough ministrations of the critics, who are free to misuse, misunderstand or misinterpret them at their leisure, assigning symbolic meaning to them just for fun. And then, of course, there are the readers…and well, you know what they’re like, don’t you.

Duchess Goldblatt, a shining ornament in the vast open sewer of social media, would be the first to tell you that she is a fictional character and heir to their inherent maladies. Although social media is littered with fictional characters --- people pretending to be Batman or Darth Vader or what have you --- Duchess Goldblatt is a social media native, not a refugee from some other format.

As such, the Duchess (she prefers to be addressed as “Your Grace” but doesn’t insist on it) has two attributes that fictional characters usually don't have. First, Duchess Goldblatt is conceptual, which is a function of her medium; 140 characters of absurdist humor sliding by on a shining screen is conceptual to a degree that would make Marcel Duchamp drop his cigar with envy. Second, Duchess Goldblatt is communitarian, which, again, is very suitable to the medium. The Duchess’s fan base is highly inclusive and highly exclusive. Inclusive, in that she will talk to anyone (and will encourage them, which is a rare gift). And exclusive, in that the people she talks with include luminaries like singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett, novelist Celeste Ng, copy editor extraordinaire Benjamin Dreyer, and the brilliant and kind Elizabeth McCracken, who was the first author to encourage the Duchess and promote her to a wider world.

Duchess Goldblatt is an exemplar of what social media can be --- more than an exemplar, because the Duchess is a fount of positivity and universal love in a medium that is almost wholly rife with negativity and hatred. BECOMING DUCHESS GOLDBLATT is the story of how one anonymous writer, struggling with misery and despair, created a synthetic online personality overflowing with compassion and empathy.

If fictional characters survive and thrive in the world, against all odds, they can develop various secondary issues, ranging from creeping irrelevance to sudden annihilation. One of the most common problems is transplantation --- moving a fictional character from a familiar medium to an unfamiliar one. For example, Dr. Seuss’ THE GRINCH translated brilliantly into animated television, but far less well in a live-action movie flop. Translating Duchess Goldblatt from a short-form Twitter account to a long-form memoir carries certain perils. The reader may wonder if the signature Goldblattian wit would be diluted or diminished, the narrative may not have been compelling, the mystery may have been stripped away.

I am here to testify that anyone who was concerned about the Duchess’s foray into memoir has nothing to fear. It would be convenient, and lazy, to say that BECOMING DUCHESS GOLDBLATT is a triumph: marching through the Roman streets, trumpets blaring, crowds screeching, standards held high. But it is something better and purer than a triumph. It is a quiet, intimate story of a broken person in a broken world, pulling a slender purple thread out of the ragged fabric of her life and using it to weave a glorious tapestry.

The theme of brokenness extends, explicitly, to the fragmented structure of the narrative. BECOMING DUCHESS GOLDBLATT expertly dovetails the narrative of the formation and growth of the Duchess character with the travails of her creator’s life. The creation process for the Duchess’s tweets is explained as the result of happy inspiration and, alternatively, as the product of careful editing. (Duchess Goldblatt is large and contains multitudes.) The rise of the Duchess as a phenomenon is, gloriously, built on acts of kindness (principally by Lyle Lovett, who is a mensch without peer) that counterbalance the author’s own traumas.

It is this side of the story that uplifts the book, the closely observed trauma, the intricate details of suffering, the short, spare sentences that sum up the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. Although the author’s tribulations are common enough --- and, as she reminds us, are just part of the universal suffering we all share --- they are described so flawlessly that they resonate, dark music in a minor key.

Fictional characters have it easier than the rest of us in one important way. They suffer, as we do, but their suffering always means something and is always important. For living people who have to fight the war of life, suffering all too often is meaningless, just part of the territory. That the anonymous author of BECOMING DUCHESS GOLDBLATT transmuted some portion of her burden of pain and loss into a beacon of love and light is little short of alchemy. “Long live Duchess Goldblatt,” the book concludes. So say we all.

I was unfamiliar with the Duchess Goldblatt Twitter account before reading this book, and I am not a big Twitter user in general. This book may be more appealing to the Duchess's fans, but I still enjoyed it as a memoir, though it was a little too scattered for my taste. The author is anonymous, but we learn details about the end of her marriage, her son, her career, and her family background. She is a good writer, and the book has funny and poignant moments, but it is not told in a straightforward way and I was left with many questions about the author's life. I liked the snippets of the Duchess's wisdom throughout the book, and the idea of kindness and how the Duchess connects people. However, I'm not sure there is quite enough material here for a book without knowing more about who the subject is.

Not my type of humor but I can understand why this resonates with people. We get a deep look into the author's life and family issues and Duchess Goldblatt's commentary is sprinkled throughout. The humor is dark but also witty at times.

5★ My new favourite!

“Nobody’s ever read my aura, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably light gray and covered with lint. I’m exhausted most of the time, impatient, distracted, visiting another neighborhood in my head, always with a slow current of sadness underneath. Duchess is white light. She’s fully present. She’s something else entirely.”

She certainly is something else entirely! I was actually reading another fat paperback book but was going to sit outside in the Aussie winter sun (during isolation and all that), so I wanted to hold something easier to read – my Kindle. An hour or so in the sun and a few hours later indoors, there was nothing more to read and I felt like this.

It’s a terrible thing to get old. I lost another lifelong friend today. And yet I’m sure I put her here somewhere.”


There’s been plenty of publicity about this wonderful memoir, so I’ll say only that the author has written about the pain and heartbreak of her real, turbulent, rug-out-from-under-her childhood and married life. She was deeply affected by the bad stuff, but her kindly father also had a strong influence.

While trying to recover from the trauma, she invented 81-year-old Duchess Goldblatt as a social media presence so she could lurk and read and say snarky things with anonymity. But she found she cared about the people she interacted with – and she did interact – so much so that she started tweeting kind things to everyone who contacted her.

She is now one of the Twitterati with followers and fans and friends who rely on her kindness and wisdom. She has doubtless brought not only herself back from the brink of despair but many others who have found a friend in her, although they don’t know who she is.

Someone who does know is her hero, Lyle Lovatt, the singer. (His part of the story is a lot of fun, but I'll leave that for you to discover). When I read about Duchess’s early life, I see a damaged soul who was selectively mute in primary school and who felt worthless. I imagine she was hard to live with and hard for teachers and classmates to understand.

Later, I suspect her husband ran up against the same protective barriers, so he walked out. But they shared joint custody of their little boy, which broke her apart. She and her son are twin souls, very close, practically reading each other’s minds. For them to be separated for days at a time has been torture.

“At the playground: my son, four years old, playing in the sandbox with his pal. He’s digging in the sand with a plastic shovel and reciting a string of numbers, over and over, an incantation. His friend asks him why he always repeats those same numbers over and over.

‘I passcode protected my mom.’ As if it should be obvious.

‘Why?’

‘To keep her safe.’”

That close. Somehow, she has managed to pick up the pieces of her broken self and establish a new persona with the bright shiny ones. The other, darker, duller pieces went back to work, where her memory wasn’t functioning as it used to. She has noticeable gaps, but it’s hard to pinpoint where they are.

“I’ve been told since, by specialists, that this kind of thing can happen. The human mind is kind. It will create blank spaces for itself. I think of them as little airbags in my mind, cushioning the tender places where the blows and bruises are.”

I have a good friend who’s had a couple of bouts of transient global amnesia after a very bad breakup, and I like to think now that her gaps are little airbags rather than losses.

Duchess goes back to work, working with words, in publishing, editing, I’m not exactly sure. She offers professional advice and warnings.

”When I edit, I remove the words that don’t want to be there, hand wash them in warm water, and lay them flat to dry. I might use them later.
. . .
Writers can be a lot of fun at parties, but word to the wise: Keep an eye on your good memories. They’ll strip them down for parts.”
. . .
“Not until people start seeing typos eating out of their garbage cans at night will they regret hunting proofreaders almost to extinction.”


She’s a bit of a loner by nature with very few good ‘real’ friends. Of one of her oldest, she says

“He still travels in some of the social circles I used to be in, with some of the friends I used to have. I don’t think I’m in a circle anymore. I might be in a dotted line now, or just a dot.”

But Duchess Goldblatt is sociable and wise and funny. She is not a duchess, it’s her first name, but her new friends call her Your Grace. She lives in the fictional town of Crooked Path NY, a few miles north of New York City and a few miles south of Canada. So you know it’s fictional. She refers to festivals and events there as if they were real. Her fans have started getting together and creating memorabilia and making friends with each other. She loves them all and keeps them up to date.

I can’t talk now. Vandals have gotten into the Crooked Path town square fountain and siphoned off all the wishes.


The book is full of what I think are some of her tweets – wise, clever sayings – some warm and fuzzy, some funny, all entertaining. In the book they are interspersed here and there and indented on the page. Here are a few. Trust me, there are plenty more!

”A lot of people go very Martha Graham when dancing on their enemies’ graves. Me, I like flamenco. I want the souls of the dead to feel it.
. . .
People often come to me seeking the true meaning of life, but I find they’re usually satisfied with half a sandwich.
. . .
Don’t let anyone shame you for your love of an imaginary friend. Religions have been founded on less.”


If you ever need someone to reign on your parade, this Duchess is your girl. At 81 years old, she is still a girl. Her story is wonderful and so is her creator.

I can’t thank NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt enough for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted far too much and will probably continue to quote for some time to come. These are just a few samples. Long live @duchessgoldblatt!

#NetGalley #BecomingDuchessGoldblatt

Memoir is not a genre I delve into often, but when my eye was caught by the cover and title, then my interest peaked by the description of Becoming Duchess Goldblatt, there were only two things I could do: 1. Follow Duchess Goldblatt on Twitter and 2. Get my hands on a copy to read as quickly as possible.

Between the book's description and a month or so of following on Twitter, I was somewhat prepared for it to be a one sitting read but still found myself opening the ebook a bit later in the evening than I should. So I found myself reading across midnight, absorbed in the story of a dysfunctional childhood in her "family of origin," a marriage that ended and the experiences of the author as she goes through love, loss, betrayal, grief, and painful separation from her child. All of which play into the genesis of Duchess Goldblatt, whose 140 character expressions of warmth, humor, and wry wisdom are generously sprinkled about.

Surprisingly, though perhaps it should not have been as the author is a nonfiction writer, the transcription style of the author's conversations and communications, particularly with Lyle Lovett, are what captured my interest. It is through those dialogues that much is examined and revealed. And if you weren't already aware, you are sure to encounter Lyle Lovett's sincerity and charm.

I am a latecomer to the Duchess Goldblatt community on Twitter, where I am mainly an appreciative lurker. Duchess Goldblatt may have been birthed from the author's needs, but for me she is among a rare few wonderful discoveries that brings some light and comfort in these uncertain times.

Recommended. It's a memoir. It is lovely, it is sad, and in Duchess it has the warmth, wit, and whimsy of a thousand painted and patinated suns.

This review refers to a digital galley read through NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher, and all thoughts expressed are my own sleep-deprived honest opinions.

Well I really like the premise of this book and I can appreciate that the writer is very talented but the whole package fell short for me. I generally like books with more of a developed p,it and this was just all over the place it really didn’t hold my attention. Also the anonymous nature is perplexing to me...I see why it was important to the book but in the real world I’m just not sure I get the purpose.

I am late to following the Duchess, but I really enjoyed her memoir. The grief and sadness that the author experienced after her life unraveled permeated her story. Duchess Goldblatt allowed her to reconnect with people in a positive anonymous manner, while providing her followers advice, wit and snark. I have only followed the Duchess on Twiiter for a year, so I was interested in this memoir (which is usually not my genre). Once I started reading, I had a hard time putting it aside. The Duchess seems to come from a separate part of the author's brain, but then allows her to become friends with Lyle Lovett, the country music star. Their interactions are the best part of the story. The author is a professional writer, so it was very well-written and her story was very worth learning. I highly recommend for people following the most trying times of their lives, as you are left with hope, which we all need at one time or another.

After eight years of writing reviews it feels as if the time for ‘firsts’ is long past, but here I am today with a first. I’ve never read or reviewed a book by an anonymous author before, but Becoming Duchess Goldblatt is just that. It’s the memoir of Duchess Goldblatt, a fictitious 81-year-old literary icon known for her wry, cajoling presence on Twitter. She has almost 40,000 followers, of whom I am one. Becoming Duchess Goldblatt is her story. More importantly it’s the story of the real woman behind her who took a low point in her life to find not only Duchess, but herself.

Anonymous was an editor for a publishing company whose job and marriage disappeared around the same time. Neither was amicable, with the marriage’s demise leaving her blindsided, without a home, and fighting for custody of her 8-year-old son. She was at a low point, with friends choosing sides, colleagues gone, and an uncertain future.

All I can tell you is that in my heart, in my mind, in my spirit: I broke. I broke into pieces. There are only tiny shards left now, a mosaic almost pretty if the pattern weren’t so irregular, in place of what was whole.

She wanted somewhere to express herself, to connect with people again, but also knew being open on social media would be a problem personally and professionally. So, she created Duchess Goldblatt—an author from Klein, Texas with bestselling books, including one about mothers and daughters called Not if I Kill You First. She resides in Crooked Path, New York, which is both near NYC and Canada. Words are her currency and she uses them wisely, doling out 140 characters of humor, encouragement, and literary imagery that makes my word-nerd heart smile.

Not until people start seeing typos eating out of their garbage cans at night will they regret hunting proofreaders almost to extinction.

Duchess wasn’t created for Anonymous to vent rage. Instead, she emerged from the loneliness left behind when, at a certain age, the life you’ve worked for and love is gone. It was a death, compounded by losing time with her little boy, with whom she has a strong bond. Duchess is the odd thoughts that pop into our heads when we wake up in the middle of the night, see the ocean, cry over a song we haven’t heard in decades.

Don’t let anyone shame you for your love of an imaginary friend. Religions have been founded on less.

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt traces Anonymous’s journey from who she thought she was to who she is. Along the way, her real love of Lyle Lovett was shared on her Twitter feed and led to her meeting Lyle in real life. He is one of the few people who knows who she actually is, which is mind-boggling in this day and age. Her account is followed by any number of big names in the publishing world and no names, like me, who simply find her pithy thoughts to be a balm when the crazy of reality presses too hard.

As I was reading Becoming Duchess Goldblatt I was reminded of another memoir I loved—Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. Written by a therapist, it intertwines her story with the story of some of her patients. Its honesty and her ability to convey hard-won wisdom even as she’s navigating her own personal problems made for reading that pinged me. I felt the same way about Anonymous. Duchess is fantastical. She exists in perfect tidbits of language, while for much of her life Anonymous is struggling mightily with issues we all face—loss, uncertainty, feeling unworthy, loneliness. By embracing a fictitious persona, she goes from feeling alone and lost to rediscovering herself.

I’ll never be friends with a celebrity, but it’s not impossible to think I’ve met Anonymous. Or been seated next to her. Chatted in line at the airport. The point of Duchess was not to vent about a dark period in her life, it was to let loose her inner voice without the fear of discovery or judgement. Duchess Goldblatt is a creative amalgam of heart, intellect, experience, and humor. She soothes without being sickly sweet. More importantly, the woman behind the incandescent Duchess is just as lovely, but she’s real. She makes Becoming Duchess Goldblatt a gift for book lovers and all of us who are feeling wobbly these days.

Duchess Goldblatt has been my friend in my head since I began following her on Twitter. Her identity is a secret and I am fine with not knowing her real identity. This memoir is a simply delicious read from the author that has pie photo contests among her followers. It's magical and whimsical, the perfect combination of reality and fiction. The author created the alter ego of Duchess Goldblatt at a time in life when things were not personally great. I appreciated the author's willingness to be candid and emotional while relating the history of the Duchess. The book reads quite conversationally and the pacing is even. I was compelled to read it straight through and I found myself slowing down towards the end, as I didnt want to say so long to the Duchess. I think that the areas of the book that I enjoyed most were the interactions with singer Lyle Lovett, and the machinations that ensue when the Duchess chooses not to reveal her true identity. You dont have to be a Twitter follower to appreciate the special gift of the Duchess' words, which are uplifting and positive, having made the decision not to traffic in gossip.
Becoming Duchess Goldblatt would make a stellar book discussion selection. I dare anyone to read it and not be charmed and intrigued.
I was lucky to have received my copy through NetGalley and the generosity of the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt under no obligation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Being a ‘Duchess’ follower and ardent fan, this is a creative and splendid ‘memoir’ just like the Duchess herself.
Anonymous (as she will remain throughout) is at a crossroads in her life. Personally, her husband has left her, she struggles with part time separation from her son and she has lost her friends. Professionally, she has lost her job.
She makes the decision to join the social media arena and develops a persona; Duchess Goldblatt an 81 year old literary icon. By the way, Duchess is the name of her friends dog. With wit and wisdom and great skill she finds her voice on Twitter and a faithful audience of over 30,000 follow (Lyle Lovett and Elmore Leonard are fans).
Throughout the book as Anonymous reveals more of herself to the reader, the Duchess sprinkles her thoughts and bits of advice, always a time to pause and reflect, laugh or cry.
This really is a story of two women that bring light, life and color to the readers world and ultimately to their own. Hope, transformation, acceptance and community prevail and make this a soul stirring and entertaining read.
If you are not a Duchess follower, give her a try and read this book ... it will not disappoint!

Happy Pub Day to the Twitter Star @duchessgoldblatt (DG). In honor of this special occasion, I invited her for supper!

Duchess Goldblatt (the book), is a memoir, penned by, well, someone who goes by the title “anonymous”, because, her identity, is a secret. She was created to fill a void inside her inventor after the loss of her cherished father, her divorce and loss of friends (secondary to her instability). Lo and Behold, Duchess Goldblatt, who she created to be a light in the darkness of social media, created a new community of friends for anonymous, notably, (her favorite #musician), @lyle_lovett, who makes an appearance (or 2) on the #audiobook.

Needless to say, when I requested this book from @netgalley, I had no real idea what it was about. What a pleasant surprise! #5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️for #duchessgoldblatt. Thank you 🙏🏻 @netgalley for my complimentary copy.

#franshals #memoir @hmhco #nonfiction #nonfictionbooks #nonfictionreads #crookedpath #Klein #texas @audible_ca @gabracadabranyc @jsmithcameron

The anonymous author of "Becoming Duchess Goldblatt" is a lost and lonely soul. Her husband took her by surprise when he asked for a divorce, and the couple subsequently agreed to joint custody of their young son. The writer's father, whom she adored, passed away, and now that her marriage is over, she will have to move out of her home. Making matters worse, most of her friends and relatives no longer keep in touch with her, and she also loses her job at a publishing house. At loose ends, and seeking a distraction, she decides to create a fictional character, whom she names Duchess Goldblatt. She remains anonymous, and presents her alter-ego as an elderly woman with a Dutch cap in a seventeenth-century Frans Hals portrait. The Duchess posts saucy comments on social media. She is outspoken, outrageous, and attracts thousands of fans who are amused by her bon mots and touched by her empathy.

This is an entertaining and poignant memoir. When she writes candidly about her compassionate and loving dad; mourns the death of her dream to be part of a happy and intact family; and describes her intense loneliness on the days when her son is with her ex, the author's pain is palpable. She comes across as an insecure, bright, but depressed woman who needs to kick-start her life. Duchess Goldblatt is a breath of fresh air, and she captures the hearts of readers who adore her humor, sympathy, and originality.

It is easy to understand why the Duchess has such a large following. Her posts are humorous, sweet, poetic, and clever. Unbelievably, Lyle Lovett—the author's favorite musician, whose songs she knows by heart—befriends the Duchess and the two eventually meet. Ultimately, the author realizes that some of the Duchess's best qualities are traits that she possesses but, until now, had kept hidden. It is heartening to see her emerge from her doldrums, become more assertive and gregarious, and shine at a new job that she enjoys. "Becoming Duchess Goldblatt" is a moving example of someone who reaches out to others, and in the process, is transformed into the person she always wanted to be.

A beautifully written and generous book, much in the spirit of Her Grace herself. In addition to her loyal fans, Duchess Goldblatt's book is a fascinating look at how we present a life for ourselves online (both in reality and fictionally) and how to build a community centered on kindness, respect, and humor. Highly recommend.

I have been following Duchess Goldblatt on Twitter for a long time and I have always enjoyed Her Grace’s stories about life in Crooked Path. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to receive the news that my “wish” for an ARC had been granted.

I thought that this memoir would be a delightful romp through life in Crooked Path.

Reader, I was most mistaken.

What I received instead was the story behind the creation of the Duchess Goldblatt Twitter account, and the very real pain behind one woman’s life changing suddenly, followed by the necessity to navigate through unfamiliar surroundings.

With all the acrimony, it would be understandable to channel that into something negative; while Duchess Goldblatt might be blunt, Her Grace is not cruel. She is a positive force who brings joy to everyone around her.

On that note, it has come to my attention that Duchess Goldblatt might not be a real duchess. There is some ambiguity afoot, but I think I will err on the side of caution and continue to address her as befitting her rank.

This book was sweet and poignant, and even though it wasn’t about Duchess Goldblatt’s misadventures in Crooked Path, I finished the book with a better sense of Her Grace’s identity. My favorite parts of the book would have to be the author’s interactions with Lyle Lovett, who is one of the few people who knows Duchess Goldblatt’s identity.

I would absolutely recommend Becoming Duchess Goldblatt. You don’t have to follow Her Grace on Twitter to appreciate the story of one woman putting her life back together, but if you aren’t already following her, I assure you that you’ll want to by the end of this book—even if you don’t have a Twitter account.

I received a copy of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have been following Duchess Goldblatt on Twitter for a while and always enjoyed her snappy bon mots. I was excited to receive the ARC thinking I was getting a fun light read, but Becoming Duchess Goldblatt: A Memoir was not at all what I was expecting. It was deeply raw and personal. The author opened herself up completely to her audience. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself.

One of the funniest writers working does most of her writing on Twitter these days. Smart. Charming. Whimsical. Duchess Goldblatt, famous for books such as Feasting on the Carcasses of My Enemies: A Love Story and An Axe to Grind, is the blip of optimism on twitter feeds needed and cherished by thousand of individuals all across the world every day. She’s also completely fictional … sort of. But there’s a very real voice behind the woman celebrated as Her Grace and she has a story all her own.

Memoirs that don’t reveal the names of their subjects are rare, but anyone looking for a definitive answer as to Duchess Goldblatt’s real identity might be disappointed. The anonymous author behind the Twitter character keeps her name thoroughly hidden, though she offers up deeply compelling reasons as to why. But to fixate on this one point would distract from possibly the best memoir of the year.

In fact, anonymity might be Becoming Duchess Goldblatt’s greatest asset. It’s possible the veneer of secrecy allows the author to tap into deeper areas of her life, from her divorce to her complicated family relationships. No topic seems off limits, both from her viewpoint and Duchess herself, including a refreshingly honest examination of mental health. The author, by remaining hidden, has provided a comprehensive, compelling narrative that otherwise might not have been possible. Even in lighter portions, some of her most interesting anecdotes—like her systems for receiving physical fan mail—stem from the lengths she takes to protect her anonymous persona.

Even for those who love the wit and wisdom of Her Grace, the enchanting qualities of her Twitter account—of all things—can be difficult to explain. But her memoir? Oh, that’s easy: perfection.

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt came recommended by a person whose literary judgment I trust.
Duchess Goldblatt is the persona developed by the memorist to channel grief and frustration from the upheaval of her personal life. By engaging with followers online, she was able to find a way through her own issues and help others with their struggles.

I launched into reading without preamble, assuming I was reading a work of fiction. At one point I wondered how the author was able to get permission to use the names of so many famous people. On a whim, I checked Twitter, assuming an account would have been open in conjunction with the release of the book and found that it had been active since 2012 with 25,000 followers. It really changed the flavor of the book and made it even more delightful and more poignant.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of Becoming Duchess Goldblatt from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Uniquely structured, it gives us an important window into the life behind the remarkable, fictional Duchess Goldblatt of Twitter fame. Interspersed throughout the book are Duchess-isms that make the resultant read more like an extended lyric essay of sorts (though don't let that put you off--it's compulsively readable). I read it start to finish. Beautifully edited and assembled.

I follow Her Grace on social media and had no idea what to expect. I don't want to spoil too much, but this memoir is charming and emotional. A must read for fans of the duchess.