EVENT REVIEW: The Lost Tudor Princess: A life of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox
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Saturday 15th October
Palace Green Library
Review by Jenny Whitfield
In similar circumstances as to when I read The Lost Tudor Princess, I knew what I wanted from Alison Weir’s event but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But, as with the book, I was not disappointed.
Set in the beautiful Palace Green Library, I couldn’t wait to hear Alison Weir discuss her book. I was so captivated by her written words that it was a pleasure to hear her in person. Being an established author of both historical fiction and non-fiction works, Alison was also a fluent and engaging speaker. She briefly went over the life of the focus of her biography, Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, telling the story of her unapproved love affair with Thomas Howard, the vicious murder of her husband and son and her three separate imprisonments in the Tower of London.
She went through multiple historical sources and paintings featured in the book, giving her view on their origins and if they could be used as reliable sources for looking into Margaret’s life.
The event had a number of humorous moments as Weir relaxed with her crowd, and though I was listening to a forty-five minute lecture, I was engrossed in the discussion the entire time, as were the entire audience.
The event closed with a quick Q and A session in which Weir was asked for her views on a number of topics. She gave answers on her academic and writing background, her fictional works as well as her opinion as a historian on some of the evidence she had found researching The Lost Tudor Princess, all of which was incredibly insightful. I left feeling enlightened, with a different perspective on our history, desperate to go home and flick through the pages of her book once again.