Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 20 November 2008.
A former Author of the Month on Lovereading Philippa Gregory is back with another fantastic historical novel, this time the focus in the "other queen" Mary Queen of Scots. Gregory's books are methodically researched for spot on historical fact along with brilliant story telling. She's in a class of her own.
Mary is Queen of Scotland but she has been forced to flee her land and take refuge in an England that is ruled by her cousin Elizabeth. But England, precarious in its Protestant state, set against the mighty powers of Spain, France and Rome, doesn’t need a charismatic Catholic figurehead at large. So Elizabeth’s chief advisor, Cecil, devises a plan in which Mary will live under guard with his trusted accomplice: Bess of Hardwick. Bess is a self-made woman, a shrewd survivor. She is newly married to her fourth and most distinguished husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury. But what marriage can withstand the charms of Mary? Or the threat of rebellion that she always carries? Mary must wait in her privileged imprisonment for the return to Scotland and her infant son; but waiting is not the same as doing nothing… With her characteristic combination of superb storytelling and authentic historical background, Philippa Gregory brings to life this period of great change in her final novel in the Tudor series.
'No-one writes historical fiction with quite the élan of Philippa Gregory' Easy Living
‘Utterly enthralling’ Tatler
‘A fascinating portrayal of a woman who was as strong and deserving of the throne as Queen Elizabeth’ In Style
‘A real delight’ Woman and Home
Author
About Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory was an established historian and writer when she discovered her interest in the Tudor period and wrote the international bestseller The Other Boleyn Girl, which became a major film starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. Several books later, she is looking at the family that precedes The Tudors in the The Cousins' War series, which was televised by the BBC as The White Queen.
Philippa's other great interest is the charity that she founded nearly twenty years ago: Gardens for The Gambia. She has raised funds and paid for several hundred wells for the primary schools of this poor African country. A former student of Sussex University, and a PhD and Alumna of the Year at Edinburgh University, her love of history is the hallmark of her writing. She lives with her family on a small farm in Yorkshire.
