Hear ye! Ravenous: A Life of Barbara Villiers, Charles II’s Most Infamous Mistress is out now in the USA! If you love scandalous royal stories full of drama, sex, political intrigue and power, you might enjoy this one.
I dedicated Ravenous to my late son, Rupert, so it holds a particularly special place in my heart.
Barbara Villiers was a woman so beautiful, so magnetic and so sexually attractive that she captured the hearts of many in Stuart-era Britain. Her beauty is legendary: she became the muse of artists such as Peter Lely, the inspiration of writers such as John Dryden and the lover of John Churchill, the future great military leader whom we also know as the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Her greatest amorous conquest was King Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with whom she had a tempestuous and passionate relationship for the better part of a decade. But this loveliest of Stuart-era ladies had a dark side.
She humiliated her husband, Roger Palmer, for decades with her unashamedly adulterous lifestyle, she plotted the ruin of her enemies, constantly gambled away vast sums of money, is remembered for the destruction of the Tudor-era Nonsuch Palace, and was known to unleash terrible rages when crossed. Crassly lampooned by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, and subjected to verbal and written assaults, she was physically abused by a later, violent spouse, Robert Fielding.
Barbara lived through some of the most turbulent times in British history: civil war, the Great Plague of London, which saw the deaths of around 100,000 people, the Great Fire of London, which destroyed much of the medieval city, and foreign conflicts such as the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Williamite wars, and the War of the Spanish Succession.
An impoverished aristocrat who rose to become a wealthy countess and then a duchess, taking her lovers from all walks of life, Barbara laughed at the morals of her time and used her natural talents and her ruthless determination to the material benefit of herself and her numerous offspring. In great stately homes and castles such as Hampton Court Palace, her portraits are widely seen and appreciated even today. She had an insatiable appetite for life, love, riches, amusement, and power. She was simply ‘ravenous’…
Her life was one wild ride.
Are you ready to meet Barbara?
Ravenous contains 30 chapters (divided into three parts: Part I: The Villiers Girl, Part II: “The Lewd Imperial Whore”, and Part III: The Duchess), acknowledgements, a Foreword from the immensely talented historian Gareth Russell, an Author’s Note, Introduction, black-and-white image section, Appendix: Barbara’s Children, Notes, Bibliography, and Index: all of which gives us 258 pages.
The back cover features quotes from bestselling and acclaimed writers including historian, Charles Spencer, and historical fiction author Deborah Swift:
If someone told me as a university student back in Florida that I would have these endorsements of my work from such esteemed authors, I wouldn’t have believed it. I am so grateful to these people, who took time out of their very busy schedules to read and review my work.
Thank you to everyone who has been supportive of me, particularly over the past few years. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging, and most can be seen on the Goodreads page. If you have read it, please review it online – on Amazon, in particular, please.
Ravenous is available via Pen & Sword, Amazon UK, Amazon USA, Hatchards, Waterstones, and can be ordered via your preferred bookseller.
I had a very private launch back in August at my home in Derbyshire, England. I celebrated with sparkling tea from Fortnum & Mason (a Stuart-era shop!) and a Ravenous cake.
As I was gearing up towards the UK release, which was on 30 July, I was invited onto Suzannah Lipscomb’s podcast, Not Just the Tudors, in which we chatted about Barbara’s life and times.
Recently, I gave a talk on Barbara at 1620s House in Donington-le-Heath, Leicestershire. It was a great event and I was thrilled to talk about Barbara.
That’s all from me for now. Until next time…keep it Stuart!
This sounds like a very interesting book.