Description

‘Impressively original and ingenious’ OPHELIA FIELD, author of The Favourite
‘Gripping’ GARETH RUSSELL, author of Queen James
‘Illuminating’ ALICE HUNT, THE TIMES
‘Refreshing, immersive and compelling’ CLARE JACKSON, author of The Mirror of Great Britain

A spellbinding work of history that uncovers the inner lives and work of Maria of Modena and her ‘graces’, the extraordinary women who practiced art, poetry and politics within the misogyny of the Restoration court.

In 1673, fifteen-year-old Maria d’Este travelled from Italy to marry James, the future King of England, who was twenty-five years her senior. At the debauched Restoration court, Maria recreated the world she’d left behind – one in which women were highly educated, exercised power and celebrated art and artists with concentrated patronage.

From Sarah Churchill, keen politician and ‘favourite’ of Queen Anne, to revered poet Anne Finch and founder of a legendary literary salon Hortense Mancini, the women Maria surrounded herself with defied the conventions of their time. The Graces resurrects their lives, shedding light on a hidden world of female friendship, education and artistic endeavour.

Publisher Review

Illuminating . . . Barrington, who is a specialist on art, writes beautifully about rooms, clothes, tapestries and paintings . . . The women's lives are reconstructed through the little that has survived - fragments of manuscripts, a panel from a series of paintings, a music score . . . As books about the seventeenth century enjoy a deserved boom, The Graces' focus on women and court culture is timely -- Alice Hunt * The Times * Deftly researched . . . A much-needed retelling -- Annalisa Nicholson * History Today * The Graces is impressively original and ingenious, not just in Barrington's use of overlooked continental sources and her fresh readings of better-known British ones, but also in the whole form of the book: an inventive blend of biography (Mary of Modena's) with group biography, which brings the talented women of the Restoration Court gracefully to life -- OPHELIA FIELD, author of The Favourite Vivid and moving, The Graces puts women at the centre. Resurrecting the brave yet forgotten queen, Maria of Modena, Breeze Barrington also brings to life the women around her - women who, in surprisingly creative ways, navigated their dangerous political times with intelligence, artistic flair and, above all, with grace. Elegant and eye-opening -- LEAH REDMOND CHANG, Women's Prize-longlisted author of Young Queens In this sparkling study of Mary of Modena and her circle, Britain's only Italian queen is brought vividly to life. Breeze Barrington has rescued her from centuries of condescension and shown us a brave, intelligent and cultured woman who forged her own identity amid the capricious and vulgar world of the Restoration Court -- LINDA PORTER, author of Katherine the Queen At last, some of the most fascinating, important, yet overlooked characters from the later Stuart court have found their champion in Breeze Barrington. This superb book weaves history, politics, literature and art together with real originality -- BENDOR GROSVENOR, author of The Invention of British Art