Illuminating . . . Barrington, who is a specialist on art, writes beautifully about rooms, clothes, tapestries and paintings . . . The women's lives are reconstructed through the little that has survived – fragments of manuscripts, a panel from a series of paintings, a music score . . . As books about the seventeenth century enjoy a deserved boom, The Graces' focus on women and court culture is timely

Alice Hunt, The Times

Deftly researched . . . A much-needed retelling

Annalisa Nicholson, History Today

The Graces is impressively original and ingenious, not just in Barrington's use of overlooked continental sources and her fresh readings of better-known British ones, but also in the whole form of the book: an inventive blend of biography (Mary of Modena's) with group biography, which brings the talented women of the Restoration Court gracefully to life

OPHELIA FIELD, author of The Favourite

In The Graces, Barrington showcases the rich constellation of female artistic, literary and cultural creativity spearheaded by one of Stuart Britain's most overlooked queens: Maria of Modena. A refreshing, immersive and compelling corrective to conventional accounts of the Restoration court

CLARE JACKSON, author of Devil-Land

Thoroughly researched and gripping to read, this book brings us into the decadent Stuart court on the eve of a second revolution, told through the stories of its brilliant, overlooked women

GARETH RUSSELL, author of Queen James

Vivid and moving, The Graces puts women at the centre. Resurrecting the brave yet forgotten queen, Maria of Modena, Breeze Barrington also brings to life the women around her – women who, in surprisingly creative ways, navigated their dangerous political times with intelligence, artistic flair and, above all, with grace. Elegant and eye-opening

LEAH REDMOND CHANG, Women's Prize-longlisted author of Young Queens