Court Lady And Country Wife - Softcover

Betcherman, Lita-Rose

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006394604 ISBN 13: 9780006394600

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2006

Synopsis

Lucy Percy was the courtly beauty a charming lady whose considerable talentsin the ballrooms, bedrooms and anterooms of the court of Charles I were, inthe end, not enough to keep her from the Tower of London. Lucy’s sister Dorothywas the country wife mother of 12 children, a domineering and politicallysavvy woman whose unaspiring husband’s eventual rebellion caused a publicscandal. Together the Countess of Carlisle and the Countess of Leicester wereat the centre of power during one of Britain’s most tumultuous periods. Thisrichly detailed, intriguing story of two exceptional sisters is a must-read for fans ofCharlotte Gray, Sandra Gulland and Jane Dunn.

About this title

About the Author:

LITA-ROSE BETCHERMAN received her doctorate in Tudor and Stuart History from the University of Toronto and was the Women’s Bureau Director for the province of Ontario. She has published three books on Canadian history. Lita-Rose Betcherman lives in Toronto.

From Publishers Weekly:

The lives of Dorothy and Lucy Percy, daughters of the early 17th-century earl of Northumberland, reflect striking contrasts in early modern marriage. Lucy married a much older rising star of the Jacobean court, later Lord Carlisle, and had only one short-lived child; centering her life on the royal court, she became mistress of the duke of Buckingham and a confidante of Queen Henrietta Maria. Dorothy married the later earl of Leicester, raising 12 children in the relative obscurity of the countryside, where she managed estates and campaigned for her husband's career. Both sisters were involved in the politics of the Civil War, when each precariously balanced family, finances and loyalties in order to survive. Canadian historian Betcherman dwells particularly on Lucy's charms, as sources praising her are abundant. The author is less generous to Dorothy, trusting too much in the sometimes bitter assessments of her husband and offering no hint of whether his taking loans with interest from his wife was unusual. Still, personalities, fashion, intrigue and even parliamentary and military history blend to provide a multifaceted entry into a period not always accessible to general readers of history. 8 pages of color illus. not seen by PW.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0006394604
• ISBN 13: 9780006394600
• Binding: Paperback