Essex Sisters

An explosive new history of scandal and power in the Elizabethan courtA newly discovered cache of letters from the Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux, to Queen Elizabeth I promised a fresh insight into one of the great dramas of the Elizabethan age.Yet hidden within the collection lay a more remarkable find: the voices of Essex's sisters, Penelope Rich and Dorothy Percy, and his wife, Frances Walsingham. Candid and deeply revealing, their letters expose an extraordinary story of female power and scandal in the Tudor court.From forbidden marriages and clandestine unions to rumours of poisoning and acts of treachery, the Essex sisters forged lives on their own terms, pursuing influence and independence in a world determined to constrain them. From their own words, Grace Ioppolo brings to light a gripping new perspective on women, politics and power in the Tudor age.