There were many women I researched who fell by the wayside during the long journey of getting my book published. There were various reasons: There was not enough information about them, or they were just footnotes in their men's histories, or the photgrapher could not get a photo of the rose were some of the reasons.

Over the next few weeks I will start to post those stories which did not make the final cut. I think perhaps I will start with the aristocrats. Dona Maria will be up first, followed by Kaiserin August Viktoria.