Rosemary Goring, Exile: The Captive Years of Mary Queen of Scots

A familiar figure at the festival, Rosemary Goring returns with a deep dive into Mary, Queen of Scots’ years as the prisoner of her cousin, Elizabeth I. Taking the many atmospheric locations of her confinement as her launching points, Goring describes Mary’s life from the moment she set foot on English soil in 1568 until her execution at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587.

Drawing on the latest research, including a treasure trove of recently decoded letters, Goring brings us a fascinating new take on the queen’s time in captivity and the charged political climate of the period. It’s a story of treachery, deceit, hope and despair and an enthralling psychological portrait of one of history’s most endlessly fascinating queens.

Was Mary’s fate inevitable? Or could it have ended another way?

This event will be chaired by Lee Randall.

About the author

Rosemary Goring was born in Dunbar and studied at the University of St Andrews. She worked at W&R Chambers as a reference editor before becoming literary editor of Scotland on Sunday. She was also the literary editor for The Herald and Sunday Herald. She is the author of two historical novels, After Flodden and Dacre’s War, as well as nonfiction, including Scotland: The Autobiography.