Новинки Сары Гриствуд

«Летом 1513 года при дворе Маргариты Австрийской появилась девочка — дочь придворного, обученная понимать опасный дворцовый танец. Она знала, что лучшей защитой для девушки служит ее ум, что благосостояние семьи может измениться по прихоти короля и что на европейской политической арене разыгрывается большая шахматная партия, в которой даже она может сыграть определенную роль. Никто, разумеется, не представлял, насколько значительной будет эта роль». (Сара Гриствуд) Анна Болейн и Маргарита Австрийская, при дворе которой она служила и воспитывалась. Луиза Савойская и ее дочь, одна из первых французских писательниц, Маргарита Наваррская. Кристина Датская и Екатерина Медичи, по слухам имевшая страсть к ядам. Это лишь некоторые из знаменитых женщин, которые участвовали в европейской политике XVI века, а зачастую и полностью ее направляли. Эти удивительные правительницы сознательно пользовались своим статусом, чтобы вести дела по-другому, признавали сестринские узы, оказывались пешками в чужой игре и пользовались другими людьми — в собственной. В шахматной партии европейской политики именно королева стала ключевой фигурой. История XVI века — это гамбит королев.

Why did Henry VIII marry six times? Why did Anne Boleyn have to die? Why did Elizabeth I's courtiers hail her as a goddess come to earth?

The dramas of courtly love have captivated centuries of readers and dreamers. Yet too often they're dismissed as something existing only in books and song - those old legends of King Arthur and chivalric fantasy.

Not so. In this ground-breaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the ‘loyal and most assured servant' of Anne Boleyn to Elizabeth I's poems to her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of the devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling romantic obsessions that have shaped the history of this nation. In the #MeToo era, re-examining the history of the social codes behind modern romance has never been more vital.

Wojna Dwóch Róż przedstawiana jest zazwyczaj z perspektywy mężczyzn – Ryszarda księcia Yorku, Henryka VI, Edwarda IV i Henryka VII. Sara Gristwood prezentuje zupełnie nowe spojrzenie na konflikt Lancasterów i Yorków, w którym główną rolę odgrywają kobiety. Autorka śledzi losy siedmiu kobiet, które aktywnie uczestniczyły w politycznych rozgrywkach podczas wojny domowej. Jest wśród nich pozbawiona korony Cecylia Neville, Elżbieta Woodville, która potajemnie poślubiła Edwarda IV i uknuła spisek w celu obalenia Ryszarda III, czy niezwykle ambitna Małgorzata Beaufort, matka Henryka VII, która doprowadziła swojego syna do angielskiej korony.

Większość z siedmiu kobiet, których losy tworzą rdzeń tej książki, była już tematem co najmniej jednego studium biograficznego. Celem niniejszego opracowania jest jednak splecenie historii poszczególnych kobiet w jedną opowieść, prześledzenie łączących je powiązań – często sprzecznych z sojuszami zawieranymi przez mężczyzn – i pokazanie, do jakiego stopnia ich życiorysy były często do siebie podobne. Ich życie toczyło się wokół władzy, której walutą przetargową byli synowie i mężowie. Brutalne wydarzenia tych lat mogłyby posłużyć za temat niejednej tragedii greckiej.

Winston Churchill is one of the best-known and most revered figures of our time, the man who led Britain through its «darkest hour». Many books have been published about his life and work, but very few have looked at his life through the prism of the house he occupied for over 40 years.
Chartwell is as fundamental to understanding Churchill as Hill Top is to Beatrix Potter. This Elizabethan manor

A double biography of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, their friendship and love affair.

Historian Sarah Gristwood follows Potter from her constricted Victorian childhood to the success and tragedy of the years 1901-13, when she published nearly all her major books yet was denied love by the death of her fiance. Finally, she traces the last 30 years of Potter's life, when she abandoned books to become a working farmer and pioneer of the conservation movement in the early days of the National Trust. Special features throughout the book will show how Beatrix Potter developed many of her most famous characters, including Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, and Jemima Puddleduck.

"Sumptuous...a fitting legacy for a pioneering conservationist who helped save thousands of acres of the Lake District" - The Mail on Sunday, August 2016 To this day, Beatrix Potter's tales delight children and grown-ups around the world. But few people realise how extraordinary her own story is. She was a woman of contradictions. A sheltered Victorian daughter who grew into an astute modern businesswoman. A talented artist who became a scientific expert. A famous author who gave it all up to become a farmer. In The Story of Beatrix Potter, Sarah Gristwood follows the twists and turns of Beatrix Potter's life and its key turning points - including her tragically brief first engagement and happy second marriage late in life. She traces the creation of Beatrix's most famous characters - including the naughty Peter Rabbit, confused Jemima Puddleduck and cheeky Squirrel Nutkin - revealing how she drew on her unusual childhood pets and locations in her beloved Lake District. She explores too, the last 30 years of Potter's life, when she abandoned books to become a working farmer and a pioneering conservationist, whose work with the National Trust helped to save thousands of acres of the Lake District - a legacy that, like her books, continues to enrich our lives today. Main text: 30,000 words. Approx 3,000 words for captions and index

Holly Golightly was undoubtedly the role that made Audrey Hepburn a movie icon.
Dressed by Hubert de Givenchy and holding the infamous cigarette holder, she played her most memorable part in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Adapted from the Truman Capote novella of the same name, the inspired cast took the screenplay and fashioned it into the touching comedy of a young woman finding her way in the world.
2011 was the 50th anniversary of the release of Breakfast at Tiffany's and this lavish book pays tribute to its ongoing popularity. The only official companion to be published in association with Paramount Pictures and the Audrey Hepburn estate, it includes favourite images from the film as well as unpublished behind the scenes footage from the Paramount archives, stories from the set, and a history of the screenplay since the hugely popular film. A celebration of a timeless classic, this is the perfect book for any fan of Hepburn or 1960s film-making.

Mistrzowska biografia Sary Gristwood przedstawia angielską królową przez pryzmat relacji łączących ją z Robertem Dudleyem – osobistym doradcą, nieoficjalnym mężem i dowódcą armii, sprawiając tym samym, że nie mamy do czynienia z tradycyjną, linearną biografią. Atrakcyjność książki wzmacnia gorący temat – romans (?) łączący królową z hrabią Leicester, tak doskonale znany, a jednocześnie wzbudzający wiele pytań i kontrowersji. Autorka obiecuje zrewidować tę frapującą historię – dociec, co jest prawdą, a co jedynie narosłym przez wieki mitem – choć zdaje sobie sprawę z grząskiego gruntu: często niepewnych źródeł, które nierzadko przegrywają ze znacznie atrakcyjniejszą fantazją…

The true story of the White Queen and more, this is a thrilling history of the extraordinary noblewomen who lived through the Wars of the Roses.

The events of the Wars of the Roses are usually described in terms of the men involved: Richard Duke of York, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII. But these years were also packed with women’s drama and – in the tales of conflicted maternity and monstrous births – alive with female energy.

In this completely original book, Sarah Gristwood sheds light on a neglected dimension of English history: the impact of Tudor women on the Wars of the Roses. She examines, among others, Cecily Neville, who was deprived of being queen when her husband died at the Battle of Wakefield; Elizabeth Woodville, the commoner who married Edward IV in secret; Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, whose love and ambition for her son knew no bounds.

Until now, the lives of these women have remained little known to the general public. Sarah Gristwood tells their stories in detail for the first time. Captivating and original, this is historical writing of the most important kind.

The true story of the White Queen and more, this is a thrilling history of the extraordinary noblewomen who lived through the Wars of the Roses.

The events of the Wars of the Roses are usually described in terms of the men involved: Richard Duke of York, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII. But these years were also packed with women’s drama and – in the tales of conflicted maternity and monstrous births – alive with female energy.

In this completely original book, Sarah Gristwood sheds light on a neglected dimension of English history: the impact of Tudor women on the Wars of the Roses. She examines, among others, Cecily Neville, who was deprived of being queen when her husband died at the Battle of Wakefield; Elizabeth Woodville, the commoner who married Edward IV in secret; Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, whose love and ambition for her son knew no bounds.

Until now, the lives of these women have remained little known to the general public. Sarah Gristwood tells their stories in detail for the first time. Captivating and original, this is historical writing of the most important kind.

The excitement surrounding the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton has prompted four of Britain's top historical biographers to look closely at Royal Weddings. Each writer focuses on different areas of interest, from Medieval to the present day, and fascinating anecdotal details are revealed in the course of this most informative and entertaining overview.

Holly Golightly was undoubtedly the role that made Audrey Hepburn a movie icon. Dressed by Hubert de Givenchy and holding the infamous cigarette holder, she played her most memorable part in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Adapted from the Truman Capote novella of the same name, the inspired cast took the screenplay and fashioned it into the touching comedy of a young woman finding her way in the world. 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the release of Breakfast at Tiffany's and this lavish book pays tribute to its ongoing popularity. The only official companion to be published in association with Paramount Pictures and the Audrey Hepburn estate, it includes favourite images from the film as well as unpublished behind the scenes footage from the Paramount archives, stories from the set, and a history of the screenplay since the hugely popular film. A celebration of a timeless classic, this is the perfect book for any fan of Hepburn or 1960s filmmaking.

A gripping account of one of history's most fascinating of alliances-the love affair between Queen Elizabeth I and her political advisor and confident, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
No one knows quite when and where their relationship began - though Leicester once said he'd known Elizabeth since she was eight years old. They shared an important commonality of experience - both with a parent dead on the headsman's block, both imprisoned in the Tower just yards away.
Within days of the death of her sister, Mary, he was at her side and within months, openly spoken of as her lover, even her future husband. Her relationship with her "bonnie sweet Robin" was one of the most important in the life of Elizabeth. For thirty years he loved her, advised her, understood her, sat by her bed in sickness, and represented her on state occasions. Yet, much of the fascination in their relationship comes from what is not on display: the sudden death - some said murder - of Leicester's wife, which damaged his reputation irretrievably; and Elizabeth's persistent refusal for ever afterwards to marry anybody at all.
Not a conventional biography, Elizabeth & Leicester is, rather, an intimate portrait of an affair between two people at a crucial moment in history.

Niece to Mary, Queen of Scots, granddaughter to the great Tudor dynast Bess of Hardwick, Lady Arbella Stuart was brought up in the belief that she would inherit Elizabeth I's throne. Her very conception was dramatic: the result of an unsanctioned alliance that brought down the wrath of the authorities.
Raised in restricted isolation at Hardwick, in the care - the 'custody' - of the forceful Bess, Arbella was twenty-seven before, in 1603, she made her own flamboyant bid for liberty. She may also have been making a bid for the throne. If so, she failed. But the accession of her cousin James thrust her into the colourful world of his court, and briefly gave her the independence she craved at the heart of Jacobean society.
Then, aged thirty-five, Arbella risked everything to make her own forbidden marriage. An escape in disguise, a wild flight abroad and capture at sea led, in the end, to an agonizing death in the Tower in 1615. Along with the rumours about her sanity, her story influenced even Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Yet perhaps nothing in her tale is as striking as the degree to which a woman so widely discussed in her own day has been written out of history. Nothing as remarkable as the almost modern freedom with which, in a series of extraordinary letters, Arbella Stuart revealed her own passionate and curiously accessible personality. Drawing on a wide variety of contemporary sources, Sarah Gristwood has painted a powerful and vivid portrait of a woman forced to carve a precarious path through the turbulent years when the Tudor gave way to the Stuart dynasty. But more remarkable still, the turmoils of Arbella's life never prevented her from claiming the right to love freely, to speak her wrongs loudly - and to control her own destiny.

‘Entrancing, compelling, and beautifully written…This is the historical novel as literary fiction – and damned good literary fiction at that.’ Alison WeirJeanne, a young French exile orphaned by the wars of religion on the continent, is brought to London as a young girl disguised as a boy. Growing up, the disguise has not been shed and she finds a living as a clerk, ending up in the household of Robert Cecil. As she witnesses the intrigues and plots swirling round the court of Elizabeth I in the last days of Gloriana’s reign, she finds herself sucked into the orbit of the dashing and ambitious young favourite, the Earl of Essex. The queen draws near to the end of her life, with no heir to follow, and the stakes are high.As Essex hurtles towards self-destruction, Jeanne finds her loyalties, her disguise and her emotions under threat – in a political climate where the least mistake can attract dire penalties.This is a beautifully written and evocative novel, rich with the details of life and politics of Elizabeth I’s court. Jeanne’s struggle for survival and love is interwoven with her passionate pull towards the gardens she documents, a lovely and seductive backdrop to the novel.