Bess: The Life of Lady Raleigh, Wife to Sir Walter - Couverture rigide

Beer, Anna

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1841195421 ISBN 13 : 9781841195421

Editeur : Constable, 2004

Synopsis

The previously untold remarkable life of Bess Ralegh, the woman behind Sir Walter Ralegh and ahead of her time. From the start of her liaison with Sir Walter Ralegh, Beth Throckmorton, maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I, was thrown into the dangerous and violent political world of Elizabethan England. Overlooked by the court and high society, dismissed with no rights as a woman in a fiercely male establishment, she was forced to play for high stakes. Her acute intelligence and commercial acumen ensured her survival. Indeed, so great was her success that two monarchs, Elizabeth I and James I, felt threatened by and indeed sought to destroy her. However Bess' success in her pursuit of power and wealth and her struggle for justice did not come without a price: her own imprisonment and interrogation, banishment and destitution, and the loss of her husband and two of her three children. Her ultimate triumph over adversity is an extraordinarily dramatic and compelling story, and until now, untold. Twice from scratch, Bess rebuilt her fortune, taking on her enemies with a courage and resilience that makes her a woman as remarkable today as she was in her own time. She is here brought to life by Anna Beer in a perceptive and enjoyable biography.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

Life in the Elizabethan court at the turn of the fifteenth century is dangerous, violent, and full of intrigue. Into this world of religious, political and sexual hysteria steps the innocent yet shrewd sixteen year old Elizabeth Throckmorton, in her first employment as lady in waiting to the Queen. The young Bess begins a secret affair with Sir Walter Ralegh, risking her position, her family name and, indeed, her life: in an environment of rapacious greed, petty jealousies and rampant ambition, Bess outwits the powerful players around her to marry Sir Walter and begin her own career as a woman of influence and social standing. Despite imprisonment, family executions and several losses of fortune, Bess's spirited support for the Ralegh name marks her as a woman of ambition and pride, risky qualities in a time where women were wholly subjugated to their male peers. Anna Beer's vivid portrayal of life in this colourful and dangerous world is fascinating. It reads more like fiction than biography, detailing constantly shifting political and sexual alliances with clarity and capturing the fear and intrigue of the times with menacing skill. This is entertaining and atmospheric historical work: a real treat for history lovers who enjoy a good yarn. --Kirkus UK

Présentation de l'éditeur

Bess Ralegh (1565-1647), wife to the legendary Sir Walter, played all her long life for high political stakes in a dangerous and violent world, though successive monarchs sought to destroy her and those she loved. She lost her husband and two of her three children; she herself was imprisoned, interrogated, banished and made destitute. Each time she came back, taking on her enemies with a courage and resilience remarkable in her own time and ours. As lover, wife and widow of Sir Walter Ralegh, Bess was the hidden force behind his spectacular public achievements, the stable point in his turbulent private life, and the shrewd creator of his reputation after his death. Having resisted being married off in her teens, she began a passionate and illicit sexual relationship with Ralegh in her twenties; her Intelligence and business acumen were exceptional, despite having no rights as a woman (twice she built a fortune from nothing); and her remarkable emotional strength sustained her through personal tragedy and political disasters that broke many others, including her own husband. A woman in a man's world, Bess's ambitious pursuit of power and wealth, and justice for herself and her children, make compelling reading.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Constable
• Date d'édition: 2004
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1841195421
• ISBN 13: 9781841195421
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 288
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible