Pure Wit: The Revolutionary Life of Margaret Cavendish
Critic Reviews
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Based on 10 reviews on
A biography of the remarkable--and in her time scandalous--seventeenth-century writer Margaret Cavendish, who pioneered the science fiction novel. "My ambition is not only to be Empress, but Authoress of a whole world."--Margaret Cavendish Margaret Cavendish, then Lucas, was born in 1623 to an aristocratic family. In 1644, as England descended into civil war, she joined the court of the formidable Queen Henrietta Maria at Oxford. With the rest of the court she went into self-imposed exile in France. Her family's wealth and lands were forfeited by Parliament. It was in France that she met her partner, William Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a marriage that made her the Duchess of Newcastle and would remain at the heart of both her life and career. Margaret was a passionate writer. She wrote extensively on gender, science, philosophy, and published under her own name at a time when women simply did not do so. Her greatest work was The Blazing World, published in 1666, a utopian proto-novel that is thought to be one of the earliest works of science fiction that brought together Margaret's talents in poetry, philosophy, and science. Yet hers is a legacy that has long divided opinion, and history has largely forgotten her, an undeserved fate for a brilliant, courageous proto-feminist. In Pure Wit, Francesca Peacock remedies this omission and shines a spotlight on the fascinating, pioneering, yet often complex and controversial life, of the multi-faceted Margaret Cavendish.
Book Details
- Publisher: Pegasus Books
- Publish Date: Jan 2nd, 2024
- Pages: 384
- Language: English
- Dimensions: 9.10in - 6.10in - 1.50in - 1.20lb
- EAN: 9781639366033
- Categories: • Women• Historical• Rich & Famous
About the Author
Peacock, Francesca: - Francesca Peacock is an author and arts journalist from London. She writes about books, art, and culture for The Telegraph, The Times, The Spectator, and Prospect, amongst other publications. Pure Wit is her first book.
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
"It's a gripping read, wonderfully researched and puts Cavendish back into the literary history books where she belongs. I loved it."
-- "Kate Mosse, New York Times bestselling author of Labyrinth"
-- "Kate Mosse, New York Times bestselling author of Labyrinth"
"Fascinating."-- "William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart"
"This is historical biography as it should be written: intelligent and nuanced, witty and thoroughly riveting. Francesca Peacock not only writes beautifully but approaches the past with the perfect balance of empathy and detachment."--Lucasta Miller, author of The Bronte Myth and Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph
"Engaging portrait of a significant 17th-century cultural figure. Arts journalist Peacock makes an impressive book debut with a deeply researched biography of Margaret Lucas Cavendish (1623-1673), a poet, essayist, fiction writer, and playwright. A sensitive, nuanced biography of an idiosyncratic woman."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Margaret Cavendish's story is one crackling with passion, ambition and scandal, and Peacock's account does it full justice. Scholarly, articulate, and never less than fascinating, this is a sensational debut."--Alice Loxton, historian and lead presenter at History Hit TV
"A stellar debut. Francesca Peacock is as bold, bright and witty as her subject. Margaret Cavendish sears through every page and so does her blazing world."--Jessie Childs, award-winning author of The Siege of Loyalty House
"A fascinating book on a fascinating woman, who was not the crazy duchess of hostile legend, but a daring feminist pioneer."--Penelope Corfield, historian, education consultant, and President of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
"Journalist Peacock debuts with an excellent biography of 17th-century English author and 'proto-feminist' Margaret Cavendish. A nuanced look at the life of a complicated female trailblazer."--Publishers Weekly, starred review