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Publisher's Summary

Margaret the First dramatizes the life of Margaret Cavendish, the shy, gifted, and wildly unconventional 17th-century duchess. The eccentric Margaret wrote and published volumes of poems, philosophy, feminist plays, and utopian science fiction at a time when being a writer was not an option open to women.
As one of the queen's attendants and the daughter of prominent Royalists, she was exiled to France when King Charles I was overthrown. As the English Civil War raged on, Margaret met and married William Cavendish, who encouraged her writing and her desire for a career. After the war her work earned her both fame and infamy in England; at the dawn of daily newspapers, she was "Mad Madge", an original tabloid celebrity. Yet Margaret was also the first woman to be invited to the Royal Society of London - a mainstay of the Scientific Revolution - and the last for another 200 years.
Margaret the First is very much a contemporary novel set in the past. Written with lucid precision and sharp cuts through narrative time, it is a gorgeous and wholly new approach to imagining the life of a historical woman.
©2016 Danielle Dutton (P)2016 Tantor
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By Mare99 on 04-18-17

A delightful story

What did you love best about Margaret the First?

I didn't know about Margaret and that she was one of the first women to write and publish and to speak her mind in a man's world. She was portrayed as having a fantastic imagination but was able to keep up with the best minds of her era.

What about Lucy Rayner’s performance did you like?

She did a perfect reading of a book that had a unique writing style. Her pacing was excellent and her low male voice was tolerable, though I wish women didn't feel they have to distort their voices to read a male character's part.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but I couldn't.

Any additional comments?

This is a delightful book - I felt sympathy for Margaret's rejections and admiration for her accomplishments. That her husband supported her writing was also admirable.

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3 out of 5 stars
By Ashley Loeb on 09-07-16

Margaret was quite a character

I only wish there were more personal details about her relationships in the second half of the book.

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