The Graces: the Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court with Breeze Barrington
Waterstones, Norwich, NR2 1PB
Saturday 18th July 2026
Dr Breeze Barrington will be discussing her book The Graces: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court. It resurrects the lives of Maria, later Mary of Modena, and the talented group of women she surrounded herself with at the Restoration courts of Charles II and James II.
Breeze will be in conversation with Ophelia Field, an historian who wrote the biography of the Duchess of Marlborough on which the award winning 2018 film 'The Favourite' was based.
About the speaker
Breeze Barrington is a cultural historian specialising in the artistic cultures of the 17th century, with particular focus on women’s history and female artists.As an arts writer and critic, she has written for the Financial Times, the TLS, Apollo Magazine, The Art Newspaper, CNN Style, Art UK, BBC History Magazine, and The Conversation, and has appeared on podcasts including BBC History Extra, the TLS Podcast, Not Just the Tudors, Talking Tudors, and the Colnaghi Foundation. She has also worked as a consultant for Working Title and Monumental Pictures. Her first book, The Graces: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court (Bloomsbury, 2025), tells the story of Maria of Modena and the community of female learning she cultivated within the Jacobite court.
Please note: refunds are only available if a show is cancelled or rescheduled, unfortunately booking fees are non-refundable.
Breeze will be in conversation with Ophelia Field, an historian who wrote the biography of the Duchess of Marlborough on which the award winning 2018 film 'The Favourite' was based.
About the speaker
Breeze Barrington is a cultural historian specialising in the artistic cultures of the 17th century, with particular focus on women’s history and female artists.As an arts writer and critic, she has written for the Financial Times, the TLS, Apollo Magazine, The Art Newspaper, CNN Style, Art UK, BBC History Magazine, and The Conversation, and has appeared on podcasts including BBC History Extra, the TLS Podcast, Not Just the Tudors, Talking Tudors, and the Colnaghi Foundation. She has also worked as a consultant for Working Title and Monumental Pictures. Her first book, The Graces: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court (Bloomsbury, 2025), tells the story of Maria of Modena and the community of female learning she cultivated within the Jacobite court.
Please note: refunds are only available if a show is cancelled or rescheduled, unfortunately booking fees are non-refundable.
