Publisher

Little, Brown

Printer

Clays Ltd

Year Written/Published

2005

Country

England

ISBN

0 316 72482 3

Binding

Hardcover

Pages

555 (479 excluding indexes etc)

Genre

Non Fiction/Biographical

Blurb

Bess Hardwick, born into the most brutal and turbulent period of England's history, the fifth of six daughters of an impoverished Derbyshire nobleman, did not have the most auspicious start in life. Widowed for the first time at sixteen, she nonetheless outlived four monarchs, married four more times and died one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in English history.

In 1527 England was in the throes of violent political unheavel as Henry VIII severed all links with Rome. His successor, and daughter, Mary, was even more capricious and bloody, only to be followed by the indomitable and ruthless Gloriana, Elizabeth I. It could not have been more hazardous a period for an ambitious woman; by the time Frances, Bess's first child, was six, three of her illustrious godparents had been beheaded. Plague regularly wiped out entire families, and conspiracies and feuds were rife. But through all this Bess of Hardwick bore eight children and built an empire of her own: the great houses of Chatsworth and Hardwick.

My Opinion

This was a hard book to concentrate on. There are excerpts of letters in 16^th Century language, a huge cast of players, complete with confusing relationships, a complex legal system and swaying loyalties.

Still, I'm interested in this period of history, so I stuck with it. Having read other books about other people in Elizabeth's court, it was semi-familiar territory, and it was interesting to see people I already 'met' play out their roles in history.

Date Finished

27/01/2007

Rating

4/10