Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton | University of Hertfordshire Press Skip to content
search
menu
  • UH Press
  • About UH Press
  • Browse our catalogue
  • How to order
  • Join our mailing list
  • News
  • Events
  • Author biographies
  • Book proposals
  • Open Access
  • Follow us on social media
  • Contact us
  • Ebook options
University of Hertfordshire
University of Hertfordshire Press
  • UH Press
  • About UH Press
  • Browse our catalogue
  • How to order
  • Join our mailing list
  • News
  • Events
  • Author biographies
  • Book proposals
  • Open Access
  • Follow us on social media
  • Contact us
  • Ebook options
Home > Literature and Theatre Studies > Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton
Section menu

Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton

Editor: Rowland Hughes

Price: £8.99 (free postage)

"

★★★★★ “Shocking and entertaining in equal measures: a true gem from a bygone era.”

-Lyndsy Spence,
The Lady Magazine

About the book

“[T]he melodramatic subject matter and an easy, rapid style make it a very entertaining read, and one which is greatly enhanced by the fascinating introduction by Rowland Hughes.” Charlotte Wightwick, The Historical Novel Society

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 best-seller 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.

  • More about the book

    The book was inspired by the legend of Katherine Ferrers, who reputedly terrorised the highways of the county of Hertfordshire during the 1650s.

    In turn, King-Hall's novel was itself quickly adapted into the classic British film The Wicked Lady, produced by Gainsborough Studios in 1945, starring Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc and James Mason.

    In his critical introduction to this new edition of Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton, Rowland Hughes relates the novel to the legend, and to the popularity of women's historical fiction in the 1940s. He explains the success of both novel and film by considering how a story of female empowerment, sexual promiscuity and cross-dressing spoke powerfully to a contemporary audience just emerging from the Second World War.

  • View the table of contents

    Contents


     Introductionvii
     Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton 
     Author's note1
     Dedication3
     Finis?5
     Part I 
     THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY 
    1Lady Skelton at Home11
    2The Reticence of Miss Isabella Skelton25
    3Lady Sophia Met Her Match46
     Part II 
     THE STORY of BARBARA SKELTON 
    1The Wedding75
    2Midday at Maryiot Cells93
    3Midnight on Watling Street119
    4First Kill137
    5The Lady and the Steward157
    6At the Sign of the Golden Glove171
    7Dark Designments179
    8The Knot is Broken189
    9The Heavy Hill194
    10Summer's Date217
    11Lovers' Meeting232
    12Cover Her Face…243
     Notes247

  • About the Editor/s:

    Rowland Hughes

    Rowland Hughes is a Principal Lecturer in English Literature and American Studies at the University of Hertfordshire. He has previously published work on American Literature, and on British and American film.

    Other books by this author

    Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton, Magdalen King-Hall with notes and an introduction by Rowland Hughes, (University of Hertfordshire Press, 2016)

    Nineteenth Century American Literature: Texts, contexts, connections, Rowland Hughes (Longman, 2011)

ISBN: 978-1-909291-34-8 Format: Paperback, 296pp Published: May 2016

Other titles you may enjoy

The Al-Hamlet Summit
The Al-Hamlet Summit
The Politics of the Pantomime
The Politics of the Pantomime
Lady Anne Bacon
Lady Anne Bacon
Eroticism and Death in Theatre and Performance
Eroticism and Death in Theatre and Performance

Any questions

Contact us at UH Press if you have any queries or would like to find out more about this book.

Top of page
  • Assembling Enclosure
  • Custom and Commercialisation in English Rural Society
  • Farmers, Consumers, Innovators
  • Lady Anne Bacon
  • Wearmouth and Jarrow

Contact us

Switchboard

tel +44 (0) 1707 284000

Admissions Office

tel +44 (0) 1707 284800 fax +44 (0) 1707 284870

Email

ask@herts.ac.uk

Postal Address

University of Hertfordshire Hatfield Hertfordshire, UK AL10 9AB

Location by postcode

College Lane Campus: AL10 9AB de Havilland Campus: AL10 9EU Park and Ride: AL10 8HS

© 2025 University of Hertfordshire

  • HR Excellence in Research logo
  • QAA Quality Mark thumbnail
  • Stonewall logo
Top of page