I am a historical fiction writer, specializing in ancient history through a female perspective. My first series, The Queens of the Conquest, follows the wives of the men fighting to be King of England in 1066 for a vitally neglected take on a key year. My second, Shakespeare’s Queens, revisits three of the bard’s greatest female characters via the real historical figures who inspired them. I love the way fiction can lift facts, settings, and cultures into something hopefully more vibrant than a straightforward history lesson and aim to offer the best possible time travel for readers. I believe the books on this list do that beautifully.
I wrote...
Blood Queen
By
Joanna Courtney
What is my book about?
Blood Queen is the real story of Lady Macbeth. This is a woman condemned by Shakespeare’s silver pen to a reputation as a cruel, power-hungry, murderous, and ultimately insane noblewoman. The reality is very different. The marriage of this genuine Scottish princess to Macbeth, a ‘Mormaer’ (Lord), brought together two long-warring lines of succession in a genuinely dual rule. The pair held the throne for at least fifteen years and ruled in peace and prosperity, bringing their country great riches and reputation on the European stage. No witches, daggers-in-the-night, or blood-stained hands in this novel, but instead, I hope, a rich and far more real story of a battle for just and fair rule.
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The Books I Picked & Why
Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle
By
Manda Scott
Why this book?
If any woman goes down in British history as ‘kick-ass’ it has to be Boudica and Manda Scott’s lyrical, elegant, exciting novel about her astonishing rebellion against the Romans really captures this real-life rebel in vivid and involving detail. This novel didn’t just show me the period in which it is set, but totally dropped me into it. Scott captures the mysticism of those times in an assertive, utterly convincing way to take you on the journey through the mud and blood of this astonishing woman’s fight for all that is right. Best of all – it’s the start of a series…
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Shadow on the Crown: A Novel
By
Patricia Bracewell
Why this book?
As a writer fascinated by the period around 1066, I’ve long been intrigued by Emma of Normandy – a woman whose marriage to King Aethelred ‘the Unready’ and, after him, to King Cnut could be said to have started England on the path to the Norman conquest. It was a joy, therefore, to find this gutsy, involving, and utterly convincing novel about her life. Queen Emma is a woman who truly demonstrates that there has always – even in the seemingly most misogynistic of times – been space in history for determined women with the self-belief to step up and claim the power they deserve and Patricia Bracewell’s novel vividly brings to life both the woman and the times.
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The Other Boleyn Girl
By
Philippa Gregory
Why this book?
I loved this book when I first read it and I love it still. It takes a part of history we think we know well – Anne Boleyn’s stormy relationship with Henry VIII – and shows us another side of it. It does this by going into the story sideways, via Anne’s sister Mary, who was, it turns out, a fascinating woman in her own right, and also by taking a nugget of fact and turning it into a key part of the fiction. In real life, Anne’s brother George was dragged into her trial and accused of adultery with her. Phillipa Gregory grabs this small seed and asks – what if it was true…? A vibrant, dramatic, involving take on the high-stakes fight of Anne Boleyn and her family.
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The Lady of Misrule
By
Suzannah Dunn
Why this book?
Lady Jane Grey is an enticing character. Famous as a nine-day-queen, her story is a poignant segment of the brutal succession battle that tore the English crown apart for too many years. I’ve tended to see her as a tiny, tragic protestant foreshadowing of the far more ruthless Elizabeth to come and not thought much more about her, but this novel really brought her awful story to life. Told from the perspective of a fictional girl employed as Jane’s companion in her days in the Tower of London, it gives us a fresh and very real insight into her fate. A light but poignant read, this will draw you into another world and carry you through to the inevitably sad sending.
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Jackie and Maria: A Novel of Jackie Kennedy & Maria Callas
By
Gill Paul
Why this book?
The most up-to-date of my choices, this fabulous book is about Jackie Kennedy and Maria Callas, who both had relationships with Ari Onassis. I had obviously heard of both women in their very different contexts as wife of the president and famous opera singer but didn’t know how intimately they were connected. I love the way Gill Paul’s sparky, pacey novel brings both women to life in all their flawed, fascinating glory.
