Pure Wit: The Revolutionary Life of Margaret Cavendish
Francesca Peacock
(Head of Zeus, £27.99)
IN an all too familiar story, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–73), although celebrated during her lifetime, is now far from a household name. Yet a quick search online will reveal that, 350 years since her death, Cavendish’s writings continue to be admired and republished. In 1994, she was considered of sufficient consequence to join that literary pantheon Penguin Classics and, in 2019, she was included in the Books Poets series.
