Sarah Gristwood is an English journalist and author. She was born in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, grew up in DoverCabinet of Curiosities: Taxidermy by Sarah Gristwood
Retrieved 23/4/21. and educated at St Anne's College, Oxford. As a journalist she has written for a number of British papers, including ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and the ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

''. She has written historical biographies as well as fiction, and has contributed to television documentaries. Gristwood's historical biography, ''Arbella: England's Lost Queen'' is about

Lady Arbella Stuart Lady Arbella Stuart (also Arabella, or Stewart; 1575 – 25 September 1615) was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I (her first cousin), she marrie ...

, an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. In a review in ''The Times'', Kevin Sharpe wrote, "Sarah Gristwood presents a powerful story of the dynastic insecurity of the Tudors and Stuarts, and of the vulnerability of Elizabeth and James to foreign and domestic intrigues." Sarah Gristwood accepted the invitation of the

Royal Stuart Society The Royal Stuart Society, founded in 1926, is the senior royalist-monarchist organisation and the foremost Jacobite body in the United Kingdom. Its full name is The Royal Stuart Society and Royalist League although it is best known simply as the ...

, on the occasion of the Quatercentenary of the death of Arbella, to give a Lecture with the title: ''Lady Arbella Stuart – England’s Lost Queen?'' Her book, ''Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe'', focuses on five queens:

Catherine de Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King H ...

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

, Elizabeth I, and

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

. She has appeared in the movie '' Venice/Venice'' (1992), and as herself in the television series ''Stars of the Silver Screen'' (2011) and ''Discovering Fashion: The Designers'' (2015). Gristwood has been married to the film critic

Derek Malcolm Derek Elliston Michael Malcolm (born 12 May 1932) is an English film critic. Son of J. Douglas Malcolm (died 1967) and Dorothy Vera (died 1964; née Elliston-Taylor), Malcolm was educated at Eton College and Merton College, Oxford. As a child h ...

since 1994.

Bibliography

* ''Perdita: Royal Mistress, Writer, Romantic'' (2005). Bantam. * ''Arbella: England's Lost Queen'' (2005). Houghton Mifflin. * ''Bird of Paradise: The Colourful Career of the First Mrs Robinson'' (2007). Bantam. * ''Elizabeth and Leicester: The Truth about the Virgin Queen and the Man She Loved'' (2008). Penguin Books. * ''The Ring and the Crown: A History of Royal Weddings'' (2011). Hutchinson. * ''Breakfast at Tiffany's Companion: The Official 50th Anniversary Companion'' (2011). Rizzoli International Publications. * ''The Girl in the Mirror'' (2012). William Collins. * ''Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses'' (2012). Harper Press. * ''Fabulous Frocks'' (2013). Pavilion. * ''Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe'' (2016). Basic Books. * ''The Story of

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

'' (2016) United Kingdom: Pavilion Books. * ''Elizabeth: Queen and Crown'' (2017). Pavilion. * ''The Queen's Mary: In the Shadows of Power...'' (2018). Sharpe Books. * ''Vita & Virginia: The Lives and Love of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West'' (2018). National Trust. * '' The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty'' (2021). Oneworld Publications.

References

External links

* * Sarah Gristwood website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gristwood, Sarah 21st-century British writers 21st-century British journalists 21st-century British historians British women writers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British women historians British women journalists People from Dover, Kent Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford