A Review By Keith Smith

I really really enjoyed this book. I can understand now the reviewer who said that he didn’t want Bess to die. Neither did I. Her life was so fascinating and tells us so much about the times in which she lived.

My interest was pricked when we decided to visit Hardwick Hall one Sunday recently (to try to get more use out of our National Trust cards……). The drive up the M1 was certainly worth it. The buildings are magnificent. ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’ the contemporary rhyme went. And the new hall built by Bess is truly astonishing…a Modernist building before its time. But then the old hall next door where Bess was born is equally breathtaking with its astonishing views and magnificent rooms.

So, as soon as we got into the shop on the Monday I ordered a guidebook to Hardwick Hall which duly arrived next day (I was just as pleased as our customers at the wonderful service), and the book by Mary Lovell. When I got it, I laid it to one side. It was long, and by someone I didn’t know as a reputable historian. Curiosity got the better of me, however, and I picked it up one evening in bed, and fell asleep with it in my hand much later at about 3am. From then on I devoured it.

‘Bess of Hardwick’ is incredibly well researched, with much more use made of original documents and correspondence than by most accepted historians. In fact it puts people like David Starkey to shame. And yet, it is written in such a way that we feel Bess’s life is unfolding before our eyes in magazines or newspapers. It is gripping stuff. A book you can’t put down. A thoroughly interesting, entertaining rollercoaster of a ride yet all based on absolutely top-notch, solid scholarship. What could be better? My book of the year.