Why am I passionate about this?

Reading Historical Fiction as a youngster led me to study history at university – so the Tudors have been part of my life for about forty years now. After graduating with a Master’s degree, my career choice was easy. Of my thirteen novels, ten are Tudor, covering among others, the lives of Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth of York, Anne Boleyn, Katheryn Parr, Mary Tudor, and King Henry VIII himself. It isn’t necessarily ‘normal’ to live in such close proximity to the Tudors, but I would be hard pushed to write in a modern setting. Give me an ill-lit chamber, a royal banquet, or even a grisly beheading and I am perfectly at home.


I wrote

A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, The Aragon Years

By Judith Arnopp,

Book cover of A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, The Aragon Years

What is my book about?

On the unexpected death of Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales his brother, Henry, becomes heir to the throne of England.…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Songbird

Judith Arnopp Why did I love this book?

I was immediately drawn to the first book in Karen Heenan’s Tudor trilogy because of the perspective from which it was written. Despite studying the period for more than thirty years, I knew next to nothing about the lives of royal minstrels. I enjoyed stories that are set against the familiar backdrop of Henry VIII’s court and especially liked this one as it is both well-researched and written. I thoroughly recommend this series.

By Karen Heenan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Songbird as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She came from nothing. One false note could send her back.

Ten-year-old Bess is only good at one thing—singing, which has no place in her family’s bleak existence. When her father sells her to the king of England, she balances the loss of all she’s known against a world of music and plenty, and builds a new life as a royal minstrel, earning the nickname the king's songbird.

Bess comes of age in the dangerous Tudor court, where the stakes are always high, and where politics, heartbreak, and disease threaten everyone from the king to the lowliest musician.

Her life…


Book cover of Jane the Quene

Judith Arnopp Why did I love this book?

This book provides a different angle on Jane Seymour. I’ve never particularly ‘liked’ fictional Janes because they are usually so one-dimensional but this author delves more deeply. Jane’s character is subtle. On the surface she seems meek but beneath the façade she is quite determined to get what she wants. Often, the modern ideal of strong women doesn’t sit well on historical figures but J. Wertman has understood that subterfuge was often the only way for a female, even a queen, to get her own way. Janet Wertman has written other engaging Tudor books but this is my favourite.

By Janet Wertman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jane the Quene as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"One of the Best Books of 2016" - Open Letters Monthly; Finalist, 2016 Novel of the Year - Underground Book Reviews; Semi-Finalist - 2017 M.M. Bennetts Award

All Jane Seymour wants is a husband; but when she catches the eye of a volatile king, she is pulled deep into the Tudor court's realm of plot and intrigue....

England. 1535. Jane Seymour is 27 years old and increasingly desperate to marry and secure her place in the world. When the court visits Wolf Hall, the Seymour ancestral manor, Jane has the perfect opportunity to shine: her diligence, efficiency, and newfound poise…


Book cover of Mary – Tudor Princess

Judith Arnopp Why did I love this book?

I was drawn to this book because Mary is so often overshadowed by her older brother, King Henry VIII. The research is faultless, and the story well told. I enjoyed how Tony Riches went against convention and entertained the idea that perhaps the marriage between Arthur Tudor and Catherine of Aragon was actually consummated. His characters are fully rounded keep within the social boundaries of the time. The setting was one that I recognized and peopled with familiar historical figures yet it was still full of pleasant surprises. Tony Riches has written several books set just before and after this period and I’ve read them all. I enjoy the underlying wit and humour with which he writes.

By Tony Riches,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Mary – Tudor Princess as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Would you dare to defy King Henry VIII?

Mary Tudor watches her elder brother become King of England and wonders what the future holds for her. Henry plans to use her marriage to build a powerful alliance against his enemies....

Will she risk his anger by marrying for love?

How far will Mary’s loyalty to Henry be tested by the ambitious Boleyn family?

Based on actual events of courage, passion and adventure in the turbulent and dangerous world of the Tudor court.

If you like the human stories behind medieval history, this is the book for you.

Get it now.…


Book cover of Mistress Cromwell

Judith Arnopp Why did I love this book?

Another lesser-known figure, Elizabeth is the wife of Thomas Cromwell. She has very little mention in the historical record but the author draws on what we do know of her husband, Thomas. Elizabeth Cromwell’s character is convincing and likable. I particularly enjoyed glimpsing another side of Thomas Cromwell, a more human side and I loved the descriptions of their imagined daily life together. The author doesn’t over describe but the sights, sounds, and smells of the city are touched on just enough to provide a sense of place. It was also refreshing to see a woman involved in business in her own right, the cloth trade is described with enough detail to engage the reader but never becomes tedious.

By Carol McGrath,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Mistress Cromwell as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"One of my favourite Tudor set books . . . A wonderfully vivid read." Nicola Cornick

Young widow Elizabeth Williams is determined to make a success of the business she inherited from her merchant father. But an independent woman draws the wrong kind of attention, and Elizabeth soon realises she has enemies - enemies who know the dark truth about her dead husband.

Happiness arrives when Elizabeth meets rapidly rising lawyer, Thomas Cromwell. Their marriage begins in mutual love and respect - but it isn't easy being the wife of an ambitious courtier in Henry VIII's London. The city is…


Book cover of Wolf Hall

Judith Arnopp Why did I love this book?

I’d already written a few Tudor books by the time this one was published, and the first reading really blew me away and made me rethink several of the characters we think we know so well. Mantel is a genius and when it comes to world-building, there are few who can come close to her. She doesn’t create monsters, her characters are nuanced, just as real people are and the Cromwell she shows us lingers in the mind long after the final page has turned. I like a book that makes me think. I’ve read all three in the series now and have also listened to them on audible. They do not grow old. I know there are plenty who will disagree with me but I respect the way Mantel breaks rules, and writes to her own agenda. The books are long but if you can’t make it through to the end, listen to the audiobook. 

By Hilary Mantel,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked Wolf Hall as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the Man Booker Prize Shortlisted for the the Orange Prize Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award

`Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good' Daily Mail

'Our most brilliant English writer' Guardian

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor.

Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with…


Explore my book 😀

A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, The Aragon Years

By Judith Arnopp,

Book cover of A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, The Aragon Years

What is my book about?

On the unexpected death of Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales his brother, Henry, becomes heir to the throne of England. On his accession, he chooses his brother’s widow, Caterina of Aragon, to be his queen. Together they plan to reinstate the glory of days of old and fill the royal nursery with boys. But when their first-born son dies, and subsequent babies are born dead or perish in the womb, the king’s golden dreams are tarnished.

Caterina’s fertile years are ending yet all he has is one useless living daughter, and a baseborn son. He needs a solution but stubborn to the end, Caterina refuses to step aside. As their relationship founders his eye is caught by a woman newly arrived from the French court. Her name is Anne Boleyn.

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Broken Mirror

By Cody Sisco,

Book cover of Broken Mirror

Cody Sisco Author Of Broken Mirror

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

The books on this list have inspired me to expand the horizons of my imagination and to think boldly about the future. So often, it feels like we’re stuck living with our forebears’ bad choices and our leaders’ cynical and self-serving constructions of reality. In defiance, I write books for people who have struggled to fit in, who look around at our world and imagine how things could be better, and who want to read about realistic but optimistic futures. I write alternative history and cyberpunk to highlight how our cultural, technological, and political choices affect our future and how creating change starts with imagining it. 

Cody's book list on thought-provoking sci-fi novels set in vivid worlds

What is my book about?

A fractured mind or a global conspiracy? Uncovering the truth can be hell when nobody believes you… and you can’t even trust yourself. 

"A fantastic science fiction thriller with a sincere and important message.”—Kirkus Reviews. 

“A breathtaking, deeply dark alternate-history Earth with complex characters, layered worldbuilding, and twist after twist after twist.”—Julianna Caro, Reedsy Discovery.

Broken Mirror is the first volume in a queer psychological science fiction saga that looks at the stigma of mental illness and the hellish distrust and alienation that goes with it.

Broken Mirror

By Cody Sisco,

What is this book about?

Broken Mirror: the start of a smart, complex, and imaginative cyberpunk alternate history saga. Literary science fiction from a fresh, young voice.

In a skewed mirror universe, a mentally ill young man searches for his grandfather’s killer.

Someone killed Jefferson Eastmore. His grandson Victor is sure of it, but no one believes him.

Diagnosed with mirror resonance syndrome and shunned by Semiautonomous California society, Victor suffers from hyperempathy, blank outs, and sensory overload. Jefferson devoted his life to researching mental illness and curing Broken Mirrors like Victor through genetic engineering, but now that he’s gone, Victor must walk a narrow…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in King Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell, and Anne Boleyn?

King Henry VIII 48 books
Thomas Cromwell 7 books
Anne Boleyn 16 books