Product Description

Taking as its background one of the most famous periods of British history, Sarah Gristwood's historical biography focuses on a hitherto forgotten figure: Arbella Stuart, the niece of Mary Queen of Scots and first cousin to James VI of Scotland. Orphaned as a baby, brought up by her powerful and ambitious grandmother, the four-times married Bess of Hardwick, introduced at court as a young girl where she was acknowledged as her heir by Elizabeth I, Arbella's right to the English throne was equalled only by James. Kept under close supervision by her grandmother, first at Chatsworth and later at Hardwick Hall, but still surrounded by plots most of them Roman Catholic in origin she became an important pawn in the struggle for succession, particularly during the long, tense period when Elizabeth I lay dying. But the best was yet to come. At 35 and upon James's succession, Arbella was invited back to court, and fell in love with her cousin, William Seymour, a man 12 years her junior. Notwithstanding the fact that their union was forbidden, and that relationships that did not carry with them the Royal seal of approval were considered treasonous, they married secretly - and were immediately imprisoned. Undeterred, Arbella set about organizing their escape. Dressed up in men's clothing, she set out for Dover, arranging to meet her husband en route. He did not make their rendez-vous, and she was later intercepted off the coast of Calais, and escorted back to the Tower, where she died some years later, alone and, most probably, from starvation. With descriptions of what it was like to live in the late Tudor period the clothes, the intrigues at court and in the country, the houses with their huge, drafty rooms Arbella's is a story just waiting to be told.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #655343 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Review
" Utterly compelling... an exquisite jewel of a book." -- Alison Weir

Independent
‘Fresh, vivid and beautifully detailed...conveyed with exactly the right mixture of suspense and sympathy’

Sunday Times
‘Carrying her learning lightly, Sarah Gristwood presents a powerful story of the dynastic insecurity of the Tudors and Stuarts’

Customer Reviews

The Curse of Being Royal
For a long time it was not at all possible to find biographies on Arabella Stuart. Now in a short time two biographies have been published. Sarah Gristwood' s one is by far the better,interesting and informative one and fills the gap in Tudor/Stuart biographies. Eventhough I feel the book's title is a bit provocative as it seems that Arabella Stuart has had never a real chance of becoming the successor of Queen Elizabeth I. Nevertheless, because she could have seen as one of the contenders for the throne her whole life was spend under the shadow of the crown:the Blood Royal become her curse. Immensely proud of being royal she could never live up to it. She was more of a chess piece than a chess player. Sarah Gristwood unveils this to the general public largely unknown life in an immensely readable and interesting way. It is striking to learn and see how women in Tudor times could make such an impact and became such well known historical figures while in Stuart times they were mere side figures. Arabella Stuart' s life reflects this deplorable development: born into the great Tudor tradition of highly educated, strong willed and political women, she could not match that and her live ends at the court of the first Stuart monarch as a fairly uninteresting court figure. Merely her unauthorized marriage shows some spirit on her part. One can not help to feel pity for this royal lady. Maybe she was the best queen we never had! Anyway, I can only recommand this excellent biography by Sarah Gristwood.

Much ado
A very attractive book at first glance, and one well presented, too.

It's a great story, but in the end there simply isn't enough meat on the bones to justify so many pages of print (and it isn't that big a read).

The author is skilled; the research is comprehensive; but alas, by half-way through, I was thinking, 'OK, I'm done here, thanks.' And this is the fault in the work - 50% of it is about nothing in particular, or about the author trying very hard to make something out of nothing in particular, and it doesn't really work.

Arbella's story is a fascinating one, but of itself it is, unfortunately, fairly lightweight. Would that the author had combined some other threads and this would have been a truly great piece of work.

The Queen that never was
Arbella Stuart is the Queen that never was. After the death of Elizabeth I, her claim to the throne was arguably greater than James VI of Scotland. However, James had much more support from the all-powerful nobles, and so Arbella was pushed to one side. She was a typical Stuart, with a knack for making enemies, and for making life difficult for herself. In this book, Sarah Gristwood claims that Arbella may have been sufferring from Porphyria, the same disease that George III sufferred from, which would explain some of her rather hysterical behaviour and conversation. Apparently this disease was present in other members of the Stuart family, which I think explains quite a lot when you look at their lives. I reached the conclusion on finishing the book that Arbella was prone to hysteria,drama, and I thought it really thought-provoking and sad that she also
had anorexia nervosa, which we tend to think of as a 'modern' illness. She was another Stuart who led a tragic life, just like her Aunt, Mary Queen of Scots. She had a lot to contend with, in the form of the redoubtable Bess of Hardwick, and also Mary Talbot, both very strong ladies, who did not suffer fools gladly.
Poor Arbella was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and paid the price. She was imprisoned in the Tower simply because of who she was, by a very insecure James I, whose throne must have felt rocky beneath him. She was a threat, and had to be disposed of.
Ultimately, she disposed of herself, and disappeared into the mists of time. I really enjoyed this book, it was very well written, and gave me an insight into the life of someone who tends to be forgotten.