From the library I picked up a few books to read over Easter. The first book I'm reading is Bess of Hardwick; First lady of Chatsworth, by Mary. S. Lovell.
I love biographies and this one doesn't disappoint at all. I didn't know much about Bess, but I'm always addicted to reading about strong women and she certainly was one.
The Tudor period isn't my first love, I'm no fan of Henry VIII, but thankfully Bess's story is so entertaining and interesting that my love of history is soon lapping up all the wonderful details of Bess's life and Tudor society in this book. Her son, William became the first Earl of Devonshire, a title still in use today.
Mary S Lovell does a wonderful job of giving the reader little details that, to an author, are excellent for research - like Bess's account entries, etc, so we know what price things were, plus snippets of letters so we know the language of the day. All very good stuff.
