Showing Bess of Hardwick 1527-1608: A Material Girl by Kate Hubbard

A Material Girl: Bess of Hardwick was Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury--or "Bess of Hardwick" as she has become known to countless legions of schoolchildren who regularly troop through Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire--and a remarkable example of female dynastic power in Tudor England. Her life and role are well known already, and will not be improved on by Kate Hubbard's attempt to present her as a kind of precursor to Imleda Marcos or Ivana Trump. This short life is reminiscent of children's Ladybird history books; for serious adult readers it is not. --Miles Taylor