Devices and Desires audiobook

Here is a link to the review:https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...Bonus - if you read Too Near The Throne by Molly Costain Haycraft as a teen, this book is about Arbella's grandmother

This is very well done.Exceptionally well researched.The only issue for me is the focus on building. Too many lists of stuff I just can't bring myself to care about.At the same time building was a huge part of who Bess was and an interesting way to look at her life.

I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins. Bess of Hardwick (1527-1608), was born into relatively humble origins but thanks to a series of advantageous marriages, died the Countess of Shrewsbury with extensive wealth, estates, and homes of her own. A contemporary of Queen Elizabeth I, Bess of Hardwick is fascinating because she was a self-made woman who used her widowhood and head for business to amass a fortune and arrange marriages for her children and grandchildren that has kept her bloodline intact in British aristocracy to this day. While I have read another biography about Bess of Hardwick (one expertly penned by Mary S. Lovell), this biography distinguished itself by attempting "to examine Bess's life as a builder within the context of the Elizabethan building world, dominated as it was by men" (xxiv). This was an interesting and relevant perspective, as Bess spent copious amounts of her time and energy towards designing, building, and furnishing multiple great houses, including of course Hardwick. Indeed, it was her devotion to building, specifically her house at Chatsworth, that was a source of great contention between Bess and her fourth husband, who resented the time Bess spent at Chatsworth away from him, as well as the massive sums required to pay for laborers and furnishings of the new house. Conveniently, just like her first three husbands, Bess outlived his discontent and spent the remainder of her years a powerful dowager countess, with the lands and money to do as she wished. Bess is fascinating because unlike many women of her day whose names are still known to us, she did not earn her position simply by birth or lineage or simply by marriage but largely through her own shrewd decision making and head for business, even when it came to the choices she made in remarriage after being widowed. She was canny and could be ruthless but she was also affectionate and devoted to those she loved. From one of several daughters from a modest family who lost her father at a young age, Bess moved up to be one of the most prominent and highest ranking women in her country by her death. Today, her legacy continues; "there is hardly an English duke who doesn't have Bess's blood running in his veins: descended from her, directly and indirectly, are the Dukes of Devonshire (Bess's great-great-grandson William Cavendish, 4th Earl of Devonshire, become 1st Duke in 1695), Newcastle, Portland, Kingston and Norfolk. This is her first achievement. But so too is her visible memorial, her greatest and only surviving house, Hardwick" (298).

What to rate this book? Primary sources are always worth a few stars, and add using said sources well adds a couple more; speculating about what happened because no primary sources are available and then writing passages about historical figures using words like ‘probably, maybe, perhaps’ losing as many stars. For this reviewer though, the promise of a book on the building of Chatsworth, Hardwick and etc., was undelivered. Stick to the “Building of Elizabethan England” that Bess had immediate impact on and keep the book to 150 or 200 pages. Seriously, a four-times married woman (from whom there “is hardly an English duke who doesn’t have Bess’s blood running in his viens”) is known through history by the name of her paternal estate---because of the building she constructed there. What was disturbing, was that Hubbard assigned a 16th century equivalent to an architect to the building of the house, with no definitive proof. Compelling evidence, needs further documentation.Coverage of Bess of Hardwick, her family (including biological family and step-family) was done well and if not thoroughly, consistently. Bess was an active player within her own extensive family and at Court for many years and including all her machinations would have been difficult. As a biography, this was a well-documented introduction to the incredible Bess of Hardwick. This reviewer enjoyed the text and would have done so even more if Hubbard had stuck to the premise of the buildings and eliminated speculative writing.

Devices and Desires (2019) by Kate Hubbard is non-fiction biography that takes Bess of Hardwick as its subject. Bess isn’t too good about sharing her thoughts, but meticulous in her accounts and frequent in correspondence. She was a consummate builder. Among her projects was the first iteration of Chatsworth House. And she outlived four husbands, each of whom lifted her further up the social scale until Bess was a confident of Queen Elizabeth I and one of the wealthiest women in England.Building projects were Bess’s true passion, particularly Chatsworth House which she began with her second marriage to William Cavendish and continued with funding from her third and fourth husbands. In her discussion of Bess’s projects, Hubbard’s attention diverts to architecture, construction practices, and the men who created great houses of the Elizabethan era.Bess left details of daily life in these lavish houses. At Hardwick in the 1590s, Bess wrote about the sale of cattle and sheep, the blue cloth she bought to make livery, the oysters sent by her son-in-law, the herrings purchased from Hull. The detail is fascinatin.Filled with detail of society, marriage politics, domestic arrangements, Devices and Desires is an engaging read, but as non-fiction it can’t lift the people out of their of their documents.

An interesting look at a woman who held her own (and more) during a period in history where women were more or less the property of the men in their lives whether father or husband. Bess of Hardwick was married four times, outliving all her husbands and moving up socially and financially with each succeeding marriage ending up as Countess of Shrewsbury. But more than this, she was able to compete with the males of her time in money management (yes she inherited but she also made it grow, ending up one of the richest people in the Elizabethan period); in the widespread tradition and desire of the time to build ever bigger and involved homes and other structures (she was directly involved in the design, construction, and decoration of various homes including Chatsworth, Old and New Hardwick Halls, and more). The great value of this book may lie in the details, not only the building but things like the importance of cloth and embroidered tapestries in the decoration of homes of the period; and the background to her and her fourth husband's involvement with Mary Queen of Scotland during her custody in England and up to her execution. I enjoyed the book, though it may be too detailed and somewhat dry for all readers. But worth the effort.

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book when Bess is coming into her own and then when she is forced into the rotten situation as Mary Queen of Scots' host/jailer. But once Shrewsbury was dead, the book kind of lost my interest. I gave up with about 50 pages to go. But it has inspired me to read something about Mary. If anyone has a good recommendation -- either nonfiction or fiction -- let me know. There certainly are a lot of choices!

Enjoyed a different look at one of my favorite historical subjects: Bess of Hardwick, whose humble beginnings could have consigned her to anonymity in Elizabethean England. Instead, Bess took full advantage of every opportunity to marry well and acquire the income necessary to become one of the significant "builders" of her day. This book looks at her life through the prism of the grand houses she built.

An engaging biography of Bess of Hardwick, a powerful matriarch of Elizabethan England. ... exceptionally long-lived, Bess outlived four husbands, erected several houses (notably Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth), and amassed a large estate, being a very good business-woman, especially for that day and age ...

Maybe a bit more about house-building than I really wanted, but still a fascinating look at one of the lesser known Tudor figures (and one of the jailers of Mary, Queen of Scots). Bess of Hardwick comes to life as an incredibly complicated and ambitious woman.

Interesting look at Bess of Hardwick, her life and complex circumstances. Anyone interested in the times, architecture or Mary Queen of Scots would certainly appreciate this book./

A thorough and expertly-researched account.

There is a ridiculous level of boring detail in this book as if the author was reading off inventories of items. BUT - the story of a woman making her way in a man's world and succeeding mightily was interesting. And the architectural background gave a sense of what it took to build some of the lasting homes in England. A miracle of construction for sure.