The Scapegoat: Lucy Hughes-Hallett in conversation - Islington

Join us with Lucy Hughes-Hallett to discuss The Scapegoat, a stunning biography of one of the most flamboyant and enigmatic seventeenth-century Englishmen at the heart of political and royal life.George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham, was the confidant, gatekeeper and lover of King James I. He deployed his dazzling beauty and flamboyant charm to achieve immense power and wealth, becoming a key player in the tumultuous politics of the Stuart court. In this immersive and dramatic account of Buckingham’s spectacular rise and vicious fall, Lucy Hughes-Hallett – winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize, Duff Cooper Prize and Costa Biography Award – summons a world of opulence, intrigue and societal upheaval, where love ambition collide amid witch hunts and murder plots.Lucy Hughes-Hallett is the author of The Pike: Gabriele D’annunzio, which won the Baillie Gifford Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize, the Political Biography of the Year Award and the Costa Biography Award. It was named ‘biography of the decade’ in the SUNDAY TIMES.Her novel Peculiar Ground was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. Her other books include Fabulous, a collection of short stories, and the cultural histories Cleopatra and Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen. She is a widely respected critic and was chair of the judges of the 2021 International Booker Prize.