''Sparkling ... Britain-s only Italian queen is brought vividly to life'' LINDA PORTER
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, Duke of York, the future King of England and a man twenty-five years her senior. Thrust from a pious life on the path to become a nun, at the debauched court of Charles II she set about recreating the world she-d left behind - a world where women were highly educated, exercised power and celebrated art and artists with concentrated patronage.
The Graces resurrects the life of Maria, later Mary of Modena, and those of the extraordinary young women she surrounded herself with at the Restoration court. From Sarah Jennings, later Sarah Churchill, keen politici
