At the age of four, Charlotte Charke discovered the two great loves of her life: acting and cross-dressing. She would remain hopelessly devoted to both until the day she died.

As Charlotte Charke, she was the scandalous daughter of actor, playwright and theatre manager Colley Cibber; she was a Drury Lane actress who specialised in ‘breeches parts’; she was Britain's first female theatre manager and a pioneer celebrity author. But when she donned men's clothes and became Charles Brown, she was a gentleman’s valet, a waiter, a pastry cook, a pig farmer and a strolling player. And this extraordinary double life would take her on a rollercoaster journey from riches to rags.