Daughters of the Winter Queen

Product Description

The extraordinary story of a seventeenth-century queen who lost her throne, and her four defiant daughters.The extraordinary story of a seventeenth-century queen who lost her throne, and her four defiant daughters.
The riveting story of four unforgettable sisters and their glamorous mother, Elizabeth Stuart, granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots

The life of Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662) was transformed when her father ascended to the English throne as King James I. Her marriage to a German count far below her rank was arranged with the understanding that James would help her husband achieve the crown of Bohemia. Her father's terrible betrayal of this promise would ruin 'the Winter Queen', as Elizabeth would forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loved and launch a war that would last thirty years. Forced into exile, the Winter Queen found refuge for her growing family in Holland, where the glorious art and culture of the Dutch Golden Age formed the backdrop to her daughters' education. Like Austen's Bennets or Louisa May Alcott's Marches, each sister had a unique attribute that set her apart from the rest: Elizabeth (1618-80) was the scholar, Louisa (1622-1709) the artist, Henrietta (1626-51) the beauty and Sophia (1630-1714) the writer. But unlike those fictional heroines, the daughters of the Winter Queen lived on a much grander scale.

Their story begins in Scotland and England and sweeps through the great courts and palaces of Europe. The journey encompasses political intrigue, illicit love affairs, hard-won triumph and even a murder mystery. DAUGHTERS OF THE WINTER QUEEN is the saga of five extraordinary women and a family that, by refusing to surrender, changed the course of history.