Ch 1: Introduction.- Ch 2: More Wall Than Glass.- Ch 3: Eating and Drinking.- Ch 4: In Sickness and in Health.- Ch 5: Scandals and Spies.- Ch 6: Captivity Replayed: Arbella Stuart.- Ch 7: Entrances, Exits and Sieges.

This book examines the cultural legacies of the fifteen years that Mary Queen of Scots spent as a prisoner in the household of Bess of Hardwick and her fourth husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury. It proposes four main areas of influence: first, that although Mary never visited Hardwick New Hall, the experience of keeping Mary captive affected the way that Bess conceived and furnished the house; second, that Mary’s insistence on having copious meals ceremonially served to her can be traced in the recipe and remedy books of two of Bess’s granddaughters; third, that Mary’s status as royal prisoner is echoed in the life of a third granddaughter, Lady Arbella Stuart; and fourth, that the necessity of defending Cavendish-Talbot residences from attack informed the way that Bess’s son Charles Cavendish built Bolsover Castle and coloured the way that two of Bess’s great-granddaughters described their experiences during the English Civil War in a jointly authored play.

Lisa Hopkins is Professor Emerita of English at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She is a co-editor of Journal of Marlowe Studies and of Shakespeare, the journal of the British Shakespeare Association, and a series editor for Arden Critical Readers and Arden Studies in Early Modern Drama. Her most recent publications include Reading the River in Shakespeare’s Britain, co-edited with Bill Angus, and her edition of John Ford’s The Queen. She also writes about detective fiction; her book Ocular Proof and the Spectacled Detective in British Crime Fiction was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2023.

“Bess of Hardwick, Mary Queen of Scots, and the Cavendishes is a rich and fascinating treatment of the Scottish queen’s captivity in the households of Bess and her husband, the earl of Shrewsbury, Mary’s jailor, and the effects of that captivity on Bess and her descendants. Hopkins vividly explores daily life in the households—foods, health, spies and security—and she weaves the history of an era through the story of a family deeply enmeshed in major political events from Mary’s imprisonment to the Civil War. Focusing on six Cavendish women—Bess, Arbella Stuart, Elizabeth Talbot Grey, Alathea Talbot Howard, Jane Cavendish, and Elizabeth Brackley—Hopkins discusses their architecture, textiles, correspondence, books of recipes, poetry, and drama in the wider context of history and literature. This book’s combination of material detail, engaging stories, and thought-provoking analysis will delight readers.” (Sara Jayne Steen, President Emerita, Plymouth State University, USA)