Emma Hamilton is renowned as the real-life heroine of the greatest love story in British history, as legendary for her beauty as for her passionate love affair with Britain's greatest hero, Lord Horatio Nelson. Amanda Elyot breathes new life into this remarkable woman, in what might have been Emma's very own words.   The impoverished daughter of an illiterate country farrier, young Emily Lyon sold coal by the roadside to help put food on the family's table. By the time she was 15, she had made her way from London nursemaid to vivacious courtesan, and continued a meteoric rise through society, rung by slippery rung, to become the most talked-about woman in all of Europe, mistress of many tongues, a key envoy in Britain's and Italy's war against the French, and confidante to a queen.   This novel, inspired by her remarkable life, recounts Emma's many extraordinary adventures, the earth-shattering passion she eventually found with Lord Nelson, and how they braved the censure of king and country, risking all in the name of true love.   "A thoughtful retelling of the life of a common-born beauty and her infamous love affair with Admiral Lord Nelson."--Susan Holloway, author of Duchess   "An energetic portrait of a unique historical figure."--Publishers Weekly