Arbella, England's Lost Queen by Sarah Gristwood (Bantam Press £20) (From Gazette & Herald)

Arbella, England's Lost Queen by Sarah Gristwood (Bantam Press £20)

It is always fascinating to read of someone in history we are not familiar with, giving us a fresh insight into the past.

Lady Arbella Stuart, born in 1615, was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. After losing her mother when a child, Arbella was raised by her grandmother, Bess of Hardwick, one of the wealthiest and most influential women of her day.

She was brought up in a way befitting someone of royal lineage and at one time second in succession to the throne. She entered court life, but, at a time of court intrigue and plots, Elizabeth became suspicious of her and banished her to Hardwick Hall where she lived a lonely existence.

It was not until her cousin James I was on the throne that Arbella gained her freedom and re-entered the world of the Royal Court. But her independence did not last long. At a time when those close to the throne were forbidden to marry without the ruler's consent, Arbella risked everything to marry William Seymour.

They planned to flee to the continent but when escaping Arbella was caught and sent to the tower where she eventually starved herself to death. The book is a marvellous taste of Elizabethan and Stuart England while giving us the hard facts of plots and intrigues.

Sarah Gristwood writes with sympathy and admiration for her subject and makes a lonely life interesting, producing a very satisfactory read.

Updated: 10:16 Wednesday, March 26, 2003