Cassandra ClarkAward winning playwright and novelist Cassandra Clark is a fan of anything Gothic. Ruined abbeys, mist-wreathed castles, moated granges and knights in armour are her thing. Not surprisingly, then, she chose the late fourteenth century for the settingof her latest series featuring intrepid sleuth Hildegard of Meaux. The glamour of the royal court at Shene was at its height when the City of London was still a rabble of houses, fortifications and dockyards on the banks of the Thames. Political and civic intrigue were rife. Conflicting faiths brought excommunication. Desire to wear the Crown of England brought cousin against cousin. Ordinary people were beginning to find a voice. As an historian Cassandra is fascinated by the period when the seeds of so much we take for granted were sown. She likes nothing better than riffling through the archives for the facts that bust a few myths about medieval men and women, about what they wore, ate, drank, and how they lived and loved. Read More Read Less