A WOMAN OF INFLUENCE The Spectacular Rise of Alice Spencer in Tudor England

Imogen Church does an exceptional job narrating this absorbing biography of a lesser-known yet no-less-colorful woman in Tudor England. Alice Spencer (1559-1637)--an ancestor of Diana Spencer, later the Princess of Wales--started life as the youngest of seven children in a minor aristocratic family and became, through two fortuitous marriages, a powerful woman in her own right. Her first marriage to the Earl of Derby rendered her a countess, a title she fought to keep throughout her life. Church delivers her narration in a strong, clear voice, a voice one might imagine the Countess using. A first-rate biography and a superbly detailed cultural history of the Tudor era, this audiobook is a pleasure to listen to. D.G.L. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2023]