# The Smart

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/sarah-bakewell/the-smart/9781446483671

JSON version (same data): https://www.bookquiver.com/sarah-bakewell/the-smart/9781446483671.json

![The Smart](https://quivercdn.com/covers/vintage-digital/sarah-bakewell/the-smart_978-14-4648-367-1-e1ab2f50.webp?v=2026-10-09%2002%3A48%3A28)

- Book: [The Smart](https://www.bookquiver.com/sarah-bakewell/the-smart) ([The Smart.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/sarah-bakewell/the-smart.md))
- Authors: [Sarah Bakewell](https://www.bookquiver.com/sarah-bakewell)
- Publisher: Vintage Digital
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-14-4648-367-1
- Published: 2011-06-08
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

The Smart is a true drama of eighteenth-century life with a mercurial, mysterious heroine. Caroline is a young Irishwoman who runs off to marry a soldier, comes to London and slides into a glamorous life as a high-class prostitute, a great risk-taker, possessing a mesmerising appeal. In the early 1770s, she becomes involved with the intriguing Perreau twins, identical in looks but opposite in character, one a sober merchant, the other a raffish gambler. They begin forging bonds, living in increasing luxury until everything collapses like a house of cards - and forgery is a capital offence. A brilliantly researched and marvellously evocative history, The Smart is full of the life of London streets and shots through with enduring themes - sex, money, death and fame. It bridges the gap between aristocracy and underworld as eighteenth-century society is drawn into the most scandalous financial sting of the age.