This is the third biography I have read by Mary S Lovell (the first two being the Mitford Sisters, and Jane Digby: A Scandalous Life). Both were excellent so I had high hopes of this one and was not disappointed. Lovell writes in a very accessible way despite cramming her books with well-researched detail.
Bess is a fascinating subject. Although she accumulated her wealth partly through a series of good marriages, she was a woman who had extraordinary business acumen for her time, and who believed in fighting for her rights. We are also given interesting insights into the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots (one of Bess's husbands, the Earl of Shrewsbury, was responsible for Mary's security for 15 years of her imprisonment). Elizabeth I is another of the principal characters as Bess was part of her close entourage at an early age and they remained lifelong friends. And I learnt something of the life of Arbella, Bess's granddaughter, who has been the subject of a recent biography by another writer.
If you are interested in the Tudor period, in strong women, and in seriously good biographies, this book is for you. Superb.