Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Preseli Press
Pub date: 5 June 2023

A Life of Love and Scandal

Lady Penelope is one of the most beautiful and sought-after women in Elizabethan England. Daughter of the queen’s nemesis, Lady Lettice Knollys, Countess of Essex, she becomes the stepdaughter of Robert Dudley when he marries her mother in secret.

Penelope’s life is full of love and scandal. The inspiration for Sir Philip Sidney’s sonnet Astrophel and Stella, she is inevitably caught up in her brother Robert’s fateful rebellion.

A complex and fascinating woman, her life is a story of love, betrayal, and tragedy. Discover how Penelope charms her way out of serious charges of treason, adultery, and forgery, and becomes one of the last truly great ladies of the Tudor court.

A maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth, Penelope outlives the end of the Tudors with the death of the old queen and the arrival of King James, becoming a favourite lady-in-waiting to the new queen, Anne of Denmark.

Penelope, Tudor Baroness, is the fourth in the Elizabethan Series by Tony Riches.
You can read my reviews of the first three; Drake – Tudor Corsair, Essex – Tudor Rebel, and Raleigh – Tudor Adventurer if interested, but you do not have to have read those to enjoy Penelope.

Focusing on the life of a lesser known Tudor woman can be difficult, and Tony has excelled in his research. As a result, we have Penelope, a book full of details about life during the Tudor times but also personal details about Penelope.
She made some questionable decisions, and being the sister of Essex had its consequences, but this book is fascinating. If I didn’t know she existed, I would think the character was fiction based on her actions at a time when women were subject to men in a very patriarchal society.

If you’d like to dive into the Tudor world, read about the relationships of the Baroness, exquisite details about her clothing and residence as well as a portrayal of major events such as the Essex rebellion then I highly recommend Penelope.

Tony gives the reader notes at the end, discussing which areas are based on fact and those with artistic licence.
I am a big fan of Tony’s work so far and can’t wait to see what comes next!