Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton

by Magdalen King-Hall, Rowland Hughes (Introduction)

First published in 1944, Magdalen King-Hall's Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton is a historical novel set in late-seventeenth-century England. It tells the story of Barbara Skelton, a well-born young woman trapped in a loveless marriage, who finds escape from the tedium of her life by leading a double life as a highway robber. Rich in historical detail and high on melodrama, the novel follows Barbara's infamous career of robbery, adultery and murder, without painting her entirely as a monster. Indeed, the novel's status as a bestseller owes much to King-Hall's sympathetic depiction of the frustrations of domestic life for an ambitious, intelligent woman with no means of self-expression.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Magdalen King-Hall (22 July 1904 – 1 January 1971) was an English novelist, journalist and children's fiction writer.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdRVG...

Description: Set in the dashing, roaring days of the wicked 1600's this is the story of the lovely, wanton Barbara Skelton, who craved excitement and adventure and embraces more satisfying than her dull bore of a husband could give her. So Barbara turned to highway robbery and with her lovely figure concealed in male attire, she became a terror to wealthy travellers, who saw only the muzzle of her pistol and the masked face behind it. But in that lonely countryside rode another 'gentleman of the road' who, one fatelful night, was to discover Barbara's secret. Between these two outcasts there flared a fierce, brutal passion which gave Barbara the unhealthly excitment that her wanton nature craved. The pair took ever more dangerous risks until inevitably the figer of suspicion pointed at Barbara. Murder, unfaithfulness and betrayal followed, and Barbara watched her accomplice die on the gallows, believing she was now safe herself. She was wrong. Fate had a stranger end in store for Barbara Skelton, and she was to pay her debt in full.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars

This novel is unlike other adventure novels in the sense that it is intelligently written. The vocabulary is neither dumbed down nor apolegetic. As a result, I found myself enjoying the writing just as much as the story and finished this in a few days. Why aren't more novels being written on this level? It would certainly make James Patterson more interesting.

What a wicked, wicked lady Barbara Skelton was. I expected her misdeeds to be scandalous in the sense that she has an affair. Instead, the author treated me to the story of a deplorable character that I just loved to hate. Right away you can't help but dislike this woman, and it only gets worse; she gets into all sorts of nastiness. I liked how the story focused on her, rather than including superfluous things about other characters. This contained some tight prose and I appreciated that.

[Reggie Naus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1944, this is a surprisingly modern, and, in my opinion, unjustly forgotten book. It was based on folktales surrounding the 'wicked lady' Ferrers, a 17th century lady, who, according to local folklore, lived a secret life as a highwayman, or highwaywoman. Adapted for the screen twice (somewhat loosely, especially the 1983 version, which tried to go for a 'saucy' approach and earned Faye Dunaway a Razzie for worst actress), this book could easily be mistaken for a romance novel or bodice ripper. It is neither. It is in fact a mixture of genres; part ghost story, part adventure, with a dash of romance thrown in. It is also worth mentioning that Magdalen King-Hall has a nicely understated sense of humor. The leading character, lady Barbara Skelton, is (deliberately) a very unsympathetic character. Utterly self-absorbed though she is, you can't help sympathise (from a modern point of view) with her plight: married off at sixteen to a boring member of the local gentry and expected to live the dreary life of a lady of the manor. Which makes her infinitely better off than most people in the 17th century, but still. When she makes the unusual decision to turn to highway robbery, you can't help but share in the exhilaration of the freedom of the road, the chase and the adventure. King-Hall, who, I suspect, secretly admired certain aspects of her leading character, does a great job of describing the sense of freedom of lady Skeltons secret life. It is when the wicked lady Skelton starts murdering people that the story becomes darker, leading up to inevitable tragedy. Another thing I really like is the fact that the first third of the novel is devoted to an elaborate setup, describing the haunting of lady Skeltons old home, set generations after the events of the main story. As a connoisseur of ghost stories, I find it a pity that the author hasn't written any other ghost stories, as far as i'm aware, because the chapters dealing with the hauntings are very effective indeed. All in all a heartily recommended book for historical adventure lovers, especially if you have an interest in haunted English manor houses or the dastardly deeds of highwaymen.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Life & Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton (1944) by Magdalen King-Hall is a book of parts. The first half of the book is a serial ghost story that is supposed, I guess, to whet the reader's appetite for the second part where we learn about the awful things that Lady Barbara Skelton got up to in the 17th Century. I think what King-Hall was trying to do was produce a kind of reading "time machine" effect--we start in the then present-day where Nazi bombers have managed to pretty much destroy Maryiot Cells, the one-time home of the notorious Lady. The locals aren't too upset bout the destruction of a manor house that has been considered cursed for years. The landlord of the Red Lion is even heard to say, "those Nazi ---s did one good job, anyhow, when they put a finish to that place."

She takes us back through the generations, relating incidents of hauntings which seemed to be more severe whenever any addition or renovation was planned on the house. It seems that Lady Barbara doesn't like the idea of anyone messing with her home. [Though given her story, I can't for the life of me figure out what she cares so much about the place.]

The second half of the story tells about the wicked lady herself. A rare beauty, born with more intelligence and thirst for excitement than was good for her in the times she lived, we meet Barbara when she's preparing to wed Sir Ralph Skelton. It's an excellent match and all that a young woman of her time could hope for. For some reason, Barbara thinks that getting married is going to lift her out of the humdrum life she's led up till now--learning manners and to dance and other feminine occupations to make her marriageable material. It doesn't matter that she doesn't love Sir Ralph; it's all going to be perfectly thrilling. But if she's paid any attention at all to the lives of the married women around her, one has to wonder where she got the idea that getting married was the gateway to some grand, exciting adventure.

Needless to say, she's sorely disappointed. Once married, her life settles down into one long gossip session with various female relations all while "sitting on cushions and sewing a fine seam." Can you say bored? Barbara is bored out of her ever-lovin' mind. She takes up card-playing (within the family circle) and manages to lose her most prized possession--a necklace left her by the mother who died when she was young--to her much-hated sister-in-law. That's when she has her brainstorm--she'll dress up like a ruffian and waylay her sister-in-law's carriage and steal back her beloved necklace. She manages to pull off the robbery and has such an exhilarating time that she takes up a secret life of crime. Of course, the excitement is like a drug to Barbara and she has to commit more daring and more dangerous feats to keep riding high as it were. She's soon caught in a life of robbery, adultery, and even murder. But it all goes well for Barbara...until she makes the mistake of falling in love and this leads to tragedy.


my copy
I have to say this wasn't quite as good as expected (especially after looking at the Goodreads reviews)--the portion focused on Lady Barbara just didn't hold my attention. Although--I did feel badly for the way things ended for her. That was a knife twist of a different sort (sorry to be vague--but spoilers). My favorite part of the whole book was the portion dealing with Lady Sophia Skelton, who was haunted by her predecessor nearly 100 years after Barbara's death. The letters Lady Sophia writes to her husband about the incidents are delightful and I quite honestly could have read an entire book focused on Lady Sophia.

The historical details are are also interesting and King-Hall does a fine job differentiating the the various time periods covered--from World War II era to Victorian to Regency to the 17th Century. All very interesting. So--for Lady Sophia and the historical detail, I'm giving ★★ and 1/2--but rounded up here.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy to read, well-written, and engaging book recommended by Anne Rice (who gives excellent reading suggestions on her Facebook page).
It tells of the 'wicked' life of Lady Skelton who seeks excitement to escape a meaningless domestic existence.
After reading this book, I would definitely look for other novels by King-Hall, although it was a miracle that I found this gem as it is out of print and wasn't easy to find.

[Mike Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fabulous!
The best book I read this year - and I've read some wonderful books.

Unlike the Margaret Lockwood / James Mason movie (which is why I even bought the book), it begins in World War 2 and moves back in time to tell its story.

This is the only book I have (apart from Day of the Triffids) which has gone straight from the bedside table to the "keep to read again" shelf without any hesitation whatsoever.

A classic.

[Kathryn Castles · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't the undiscovered treasure I was hoping for, but it is quirky and it has a real sense of tension over what she is going to do and what is going to happen to her. Can see why it was so popular

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was like nothing I have ever read. I have to say I expected something completely different and much more tame, even knowing the basic plot of the book. But, in my opinion, the main character truly lives up to the title. She is wicked, sinister, selfish, and cold. Definitely a little more steamy than I expected, but don't be fooled, it is not a romance. Everything she touches is twisted and malignant. The woman is like a force of nature. She's set on a path to her own destruction, as well as that of anyone who dares to get close to her throughout the entire book and absolutely nothing gets in the way of it. I am incredibly curious how true to the book the film adaptation was. I can't help but think it must have been a little watered down.