“Philippa Gregory’s dedication to historical accuracy provides a solid foundation for her historical fiction. Readers enjoy her lively writing style and fascinating characters, elements also found in her contemporary Psychological Fiction. For her Historical novels, Gregory delights in selecting a marginal historical character as her protagonist, which readers then use to experience a particular time and place. Gregory does not gloss over history’s darker moments, and the gritty violence and dark passions that sometimes fill her books give them a strong sense of realism.” NoveList Description
If You Like Philippa Gregory, You Might Like…
The Virgin’s Daughter
Laura Andersen
In this alternate history of the Tudors in which Elizabeth I, the celebrated Virgin Queen, had a daughter, this first book in a new trilogy interweaves realistic period-details and genuine historical figures to vividly bring to life the scandalous Tudors. Original.
Read More View in CatalogThe September Queen
Gillian Bagwell
Charles II is running for his life-and into the arms of a woman who will risk all for king and country. Jane Lane is of marrying age, but she longs for adventure. She has pushed every potential suitor away-even those who could provide everything for her. Then one day, adventure makes its way to her doorstep, and with it comes mortal danger... Royalists fighting to restore the crown to King Charles II implore Jane to help. Jane must transport him to safety, disguised as a manservant. As she places herself in harm's way, she finds herself falling in love with the gallant young Charles. And despite his reputation as a breaker of hearts, Jane finds herself surrendering to a passion that will change her life forever.
Read More View in CatalogParadise Alley
Kevin Baker
They came by boat from a starving land—and by the Underground Railroad from Southern chains—seeking refuge in a crowded, filthy corner of hell at the bottom of a great metropolis. But in the terrible July of 1863, the poor and desperate of Paradise Alley would face a new catastrophe—as flames from the war that was tearing America in two reached out to set their city on fire.
Read More View in CatalogThe Summer Queen
Elizabeth Chadwick
New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick brings Eleanor of Aquitaine to life with breathtaking historical detail in the first volume of this stunning new trilogy. Eleanor of Aquitaine, the legendary 12th century queen of France and later of England, is one of the most powerful and irrepressible women in medieval history, and her story of romance, scandal and political intrigue has fascinated readers for centuries. Young Eleanor (or Alienor as she was known) has everything to look forward to as the heiress to the wealthy Aquitaine. But when her beloved father William X suddenly dies, childhood is over. Sent to Paris and forced to marry Prince Louis VII of France, she barely adjusts before another death catapults them to King and Queen. At the age of just 13, Eleanor must leave everything behind and learn to navigate the complex and vivacious French court. Faced with great scandals, trials, fraught relationships, and forbidden love at every turn, Eleanor finally sees what her future could hold if she could just seize the moment. The first in this highly anticipated trilogy, The Summer Queen follows Eleanor through the Second Crusade to the end of her marriage to Louis VII. The author's meticulous research (including delving into the Akashic records) portrays the Middle Ages and Eleanor with depth and vivid imagery unparalleled in historical fiction that will keep readers riveted and wanting more.
Read More View in CatalogThe Virgin Queen’s Daughter
Ella March Chase
The court of the Queen Elizabeth is a hot-bed of intrigue and ambition... It is a place where reputations can stand or fall on the merest hint of scandal. Lingering rumours even surround the Virgin Queen herself, despite the fate of those foolish enough to besmirch her reputation. Recently arrived in court, Nell de Lacey is surprised to discover that many think she bears more than a passing resemblance to the younger queen. That, coupled with an old mystery about a missing portion of the Queen's past some years prior, is enough to set tongues wagging. And wherever the truth lies, even the rumour is sufficient to place Nell on a dangerous path that could all so easily end with her head on a block...
Read More View in CatalogFalling Angels
Tracy Chevalier
A New York Times bestseller From the author of the international bestseller Girl With A Pearl Earring and At the Edge of the Orchard, Tracy Chevalier once again paints a distant age with a rich and provocative palette of characters. Falling Angels follows the fortunes of two families in the emerging years of the twentieth century in England, while the Queen's death reverberates through a changing nation. Told through a variety of shifting perspectives—wives and husbands, friends and lovers, masters and their servants, and a gravedigger's son—Falling Angels is graced with the luminous imagery that distinguished Girl With a Pearl Earring, Falling Angels is another dazzling tour de force from this "master of voices" (The New York Times Book Review). From the Trade Paperback edition.
Read More View in CatalogSecrets of the Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace
Kate Emerson
Basing her gripping tale on the life of the real Jane Popyncourt, gifted author Kate Emerson brings the Tudor monarchs, their family, and their courtiers to brilliant life in this vibrant new novel. Beautiful. Seductive. Innocent. Jane Popyncourt was brought to the court as a child to be ward of the king and a companion to his daughters —the princesses Margaret and Mary. With no money of her own, Jane could not hope for a powerful marriage, or perhaps even marriage at all. But as she grows into a lovely young woman, she still receives flattering attention from the virile young men flocking to serve the handsome new king, Henry VIII, who has recently married Catherine of Aragon. Then a dashing French prisoner of war, cousin to the king of France, is brought to London, and Jane finds she cannot help giving some of her heart—and more—to a man she can never marry. But the Tudor court is filled with dangers as well as seductions, and there are mysteries surrounding Jane's birth that have made her deadly enemies. Can she cultivate her beauty and her amorous wiles to guide her along a perilous path and bring her at last to happiness?
Read More View in CatalogThe Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett
#1 New York Times Bestseller Oprah's Book Club Selection The “extraordinary . . . monumental masterpiece” (Booklist) that changed the course of Ken Follett’s already phenomenal career. Look out for Ken's newest book, A Column of Fire, available now. “Follett risks all and comes out a clear winner,” extolled Publishers Weekly on the release of The Pillars of the Earth. A departure for the bestselling thriller writer, the historical epic stunned readers and critics alike with its ambitious scope and gripping humanity. Today, it stands as a testament to Follett’s unassailable command of the written word and to his universal appeal. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul . . . of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother. A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.
Read More View in CatalogMary, Called Magdalene
Margaret George
In a vivid re-creation of Mary Magdalene's life story, this "diary of a soul" convincingly captures the renowned woman's voice as she moves from girlhood to womanhood, becomes part of the circle of disciples, and comes to grips with the divine. Literary Guild( Alternate.
Read More View in CatalogBecoming Marie Antoinette
Juliet Grey
Imagines the early life of the doomed eighteenth-century queen, who at a young age learns from her mother, the ambitious Empress of Austria, that she must leave her coddled life in the Austrian court to marry the dauphin of France.
View in CatalogWinter’s Tale
Mark Helprin
Mark Helprin's acclaimed novel is now a major motion picture starring Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, Eva Marie Saint, and Russell Crowe. Written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind).New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake - orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl, who is dying.Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man, because of a love that, at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and beseiged by unprecedented winters, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.
Read More View in CatalogThe Agincourt Bride
Joanna Hickson
The best-selling novel about the queen who founded the Tudor dynasty. ‘A bewitching first novel...alive with historical detail’ Good Housekeeping.
View in CatalogWars of the Roses: Stormbird First Free Chapter
Conn Iggulden
Free eBook only exclusive sampler. Historical fiction master Conn Iggulden retells the gripping story of the English civil war in his new Wars of the Roses series. King Henry V - the great Lion of England - is long dead. In 1437, after years of regency, the pious and gentle Henry VI, the Lamb, comes of age and accedes to the English throne. His poor health and frailty of mind render him a weakling king - Henry depends on his closest men, Spymaster Derry Brewer and William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, to run his kingdom. Yet there are those, such as the Plantagenet Richard, Duke of York, who believe England must be led by a strong king if she is to survive. With England's territories in France under threat, and rumours of revolt at home, fears grow that Henry and his advisers will see the country slide into ruin. With a secret deal struck for Henry to marry a young French noblewoman, Margaret of Anjou, those fears become all too real. As storm clouds gather over England, King Henry and his supporters find themselves besieged abroad and at home. Who, or what, can save the kingdom before it is too late? The Wars of the Roses series will be a benchmark for historical fiction, showcasing Conn Iggulden at his finest. Praise for Conn Iggulden: 'This is energetic, competent stuff; Iggulden knows his material and his audience' Independent 'Iggulden is in a class of his own when it comes to epic, historical fiction' Daily Mirror 'Iggulden...tells an absolutely cracking story' The Times Conn Iggulden is the author of the best-selling Emperor and Conqueror historical fiction series and also the co-author (with his brother Hal), of 2006's British Book of The Year, The Dangerous Book for Boys. Born in London, Conn Iggulden read English at London University and worked as a teacher for seven years before becoming a full time writer. He is married and lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and children.
Read More View in CatalogMademoiselle Boleyn
Robin Maxwell
Anne Boleyn is thrilled with the prospects of a new adventure when her father is assigned the mission of spying on the French court and her sister Mary is given the task of allowing herself to be seduced by the king of France in order to uncover his secrets.
Read More View in CatalogCleopatra’s Daughter
Michelle Moran
The incredible untold story of Queen Cleopatra and Marc Antony's orphaned children, taken to Rome to be raised as hostages in the palace of their father's greatest rival. Following Cleopatra and Marc Antony's deaths, their three children – twins named Alexander and Selene plus a younger son named Ptolemy – are exiled from Egypt and sent to Rome in chains to be raised in one of the most fascinating and dangerous courts of all time. 'Cleopatra's Daughter' is the remarkable true story of what happens to these three surviving children as seen through the eyes of Selene. Their adaptation to Roman culture, their treatment as both a curiosity and a threat, and Selene's perilous journey to adulthood, are all chronicled in the elegant detail and gripping pace for which Michelle Moran is celebrated.
Read More View in CatalogMata Hari’s Last Dance
Michelle Moran
From the international bestselling author of Rebel Queen and Nefertiti comes a captivating novel about the infamous Mata Hari, exotic dancer, adored courtesan, and, possibly, relentless spy. Paris, 1917. The notorious dancer Mata Hari sits in a cold cell awaiting freedom…or death. Alone and despondent, Mata Hari is as confused as the rest of the world about the charges she’s been arrested on: treason leading to the deaths of thousands of French soldiers. As Mata Hari waits for her fate to be decided, she relays the story of her life to a reporter who is allowed to visit her in prison. Beginning with her carefree childhood, Mata Hari recounts her father’s cruel abandonment of her family as well her calamitous marriage to a military officer. Taken to the island of Java, Mata Hari refuses to be ruled by her abusive husband and instead learns to dance, paving the way to her stardom as Europe’s most infamous dancer. From Indian temples and Parisian theatres to German barracks in war-torn Europe, international bestselling author Michelle Moran who “expertly balances fact and fiction” (Associated Press) brings to vibrant life the famed world of Mata Hari: dancer, courtesan, and possibly, spy.
Read More View in CatalogKatharine of Aragon
Jean Plaidy
An evocative historical novel chronicles the life of Henry VIII's first wife, Katharine of Aragon, from her early days in England after being sent from Spain to marry Henry's sickly older brother, through her subsequent marriage to Henry, to the divorce that ignited a storm of controversy that changed history. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.
Read More View in CatalogGirl in Hyacinth Blue
Susan Vreeland
Chronicles the history of a painting and the lives with which it intersects, from the artist's inspiration to its admiration by two art scholars three hundred years later. Reprint.
View in CatalogKatherine of Aragon, the True Queen
Alison Weir
"Young Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Spain's powerful monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, was an exquisite prize in the royal marriage market. Golden-haired, sixteen years old, she was sent to England to marry the future king, Arthur, Prince of Wales. But when Arthur died a few months after their wedding, Katherine's bright future was suddenly eclipsed. It took his younger brother Henry VIII eight long years to do the honorable thing and marry her. Their union was briefly happy until Katherine failed to bear a son, and Anne Boleyn caught Henry's eye.."--
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