The Lost Queen

'A splendidly sympathetic and sparky portrait... Wittily written and rich in detail' Miranda Seymour Despite Catherine of Braganza's crucial place in British history, and that of its Empire, she has since been overshadowed by stories of the king's many mistresses and forgotten as Charles' boring, powerless wife. This could not be further from the truth. In an absorbing narrative, historian Sophie Shorland not only tells the full story of this long-overlooked figure and her difficult relationship with Charles II, but also reveals how Catherine changed the country in ways both large and small: part of her dowry was Bombay, Britain's first territory on the Indian subcontinent; she also popularised trousers for women, Baroque art and music, and - perhaps most long-lastingly - tea drinking.

Sophie Shorland has a PhD in Early Modern English literature and is a former Research Fellow at the University of Warwick. She was a semi-finalist in the BBC's New Generation Thinkers competition and the proposal for her first book was shortlisted for the Tony Lothian Prize.