Overview

'A splendidly sympathetic and sparky portrait... Wittily written and rich in detail' Miranda SeymourDespite Catherine of Braganza's crucial place in British history, and that of its Empire, she has since been overshadowed by stories of the king's many mistresses and forgotten as Charles' boring, powerless wife. This could not be further from the truth. In an absorbing narrative, historian Sophie Shorland not only tells the full story of this long-overlooked figure and her difficult relationship with Charles II, but also reveals how Catherine changed the country in ways both large and small: part of her dowry was Bombay, Britain's first territory on the Indian subcontinent; she also popularised trousers for women, Baroque art and music, and - perhaps most long-lastingly - tea drinking.

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9781838956394

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"Sophie Shorland's The Lost Queen is wonderfully rich in the 17th century details of lives, loves, politics and power, in England and in Europe. The book rightly challenges ideas about the wife of Charles II and his treatment of her. We've too easily preferred the gossip of the merry monarch's mistresses over this remarkable woman showing dignified courage and tenacity in the face of constant threats to her position. * Suzie Edge, as seen on TikTok and the author of Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths * What a wonderful subject Sophie Shorland has picked. It's for far too long that Charles II's Portuguese queen has been neglected or misrepresented. Shorland connects her to our own times in a splendidly sympathetic and sparky portrait, filled with unexpected images of a courageous woman who wasn't afraid to create her own circle and defend her beliefs at an English court dominated by her husband's mistresses. Wittily written and rich in detail. -- Miranda Seymour, author of I Used to Live Here Once Another neglected Early Modern woman finally gets the biography she deserves! Shorland's is a confident, cosmopolitan and always accessible life of the Queen Consort who brought England nothing less than the first toeholds of a truly global empire, and the habit of tea-drinking. -- Ophelia Field, author of The Favourite Between these covers we rediscover a lost queen, having now emerged from the shadow of her husband, Charles II. She stands before us as never before, complex, astute and fully realised, all thanks to Shorland's sensitive and robust retelling of her life. ""Let Bonfires blaze"" indeed, for here, finally, is the long-awaited history of Catherine of Braganza. * Anthony Delaney, HistoryHit presenter and author of Queer Georgians * A lively and long-awaited biography of one of Britain's most under-rated queens. * Linda Porter, author of Mistresses * This lively, fascinating book retrieves an overlooked queen from a historical siding and restores her to the centre of European politics and Charles II's London. * Suzannah Lipscomb, award-winning historian and broadcaster, and author of What is History, Now? *"

"What a wonderful subject Sophie Shorland has picked. It's for far too long that Charles II's Portuguese queen has been neglected or misrepresented. Shorland connects her to our own times in a splendidly sympathetic and sparky portrait, filled with unexpected images of a courageous woman who wasn't afraid to create her own circle and defend her beliefs at an English court dominated by her husband's mistresses. Wittily written and rich in detail. -- Miranda Seymour, author of I Used to Live Here Once Another neglected Early Modern woman finally gets the biography she deserves! Shorland's is a confident, cosmopolitan and always accessible life of the Queen Consort who brought England nothing less than the first toeholds of a truly global empire, and the habit of tea-drinking. -- Ophelia Field, author of The Favourite Between these covers we rediscover a lost queen, having now emerged from the shadow of her husband, Charles II. She stands before us as never before, complex, astute and fully realised, all thanks to Shorland's sensitive and robust retelling of her life. ""Let Bonfires blaze"" indeed, for here, finally, is the long-awaited history of Catherine of Braganza. -- Anthony Delaney, author of the forthcoming Queer Georgians"

Author Information

Sophie Shorland has a PhD in Early Modern English literature and is a former Research Fellow at the University of Warwick. She was a semi-finalist in the BBC's New Generation Thinkers competition and the proposal for her first book was shortlisted for the Tony Lothian Prize.

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