Showing results by author "Philippa Gregory" in All Categories

1553. Hannah Green, the young daughter of a Jewish bookseller, is forced out of Spain by the Inquisition, and becomes an unlikely player at the fractious Tudor Court. Her gifts of foresight mean that she is given, as a Holy Fool to the newly crowned Mary I. But as Mary’s grip on the throne loosens, threatened by the ambitions of her sister, Elizabeth, Hannah is trapped in the deadly rivalry between the daughters of Henry VIII.

1435. Rouen. Jacquetta of Luxembourg is left a wealthy young widow when her husband, the Duke of Bedford, dies. Her only friend in the great household is Richard Woodville, the Duke’s squire, and it is not long before the two become lovers and marry in secret. The Woodvilles return to the Lancaster court, where Jacquetta becomes close friends with young King Henry VI’s new queen. But she can sense a growing threat from the people of England, and the danger of royal rivals.

Jane Grey was Queen of England for nine days. Using her position as cousin to the deceased king, her father and his conspirators put her on the throne ahead of the king's half sister Mary, who quickly mustered an army, claimed her crown and locked Jane in the Tower. When Jane refused to betray her Protestant faith, Mary sent her to the executioner's block. There Jane turned her father's greedy, failed grab for power into her own brave and tragic martyrdom.

Bristol in 1787 is booming, from its stinking docks to its elegant new houses. Josiah Cole, a small dockside trader, is prepared to gamble everything to join the big players of the city. But he needs ready cash and a well-connected wife. An arranged marriage to Frances Scott is a mutually convenient solution. Trading her social contacts for Josiah’s protection, Frances enters the world of the Bristol merchants and finds her life and fortune dependent on the respectable trade of sugar, rum and slaves.

1521. Young Mary Boleyn arrives at court, maid in waiting and favourite to Queen Katherine of Aragon. Yet Mary catches the eye of the capricious king and – propelled by the ambitions of the powerful Boleyn family – she betrays her queen, and takes her place as Henry VIII’s new mistress. But while Mary is in childbed, a rival comes to court – her sister Anne, a young woman ruthless in her drive to become queen. With her own destiny unknown, and the Boleyn enemies gathering, Mary must defy her family – and command her own fate.

The Red Queen tells the story of the child-bride of Edmund Tudor, who, although widowed in her early teens, uses her determination of character and wily plotting to infiltrate the house of York under the guise of loyal friend and servant, undermine the support for Richard III and ultimately ensure that her only son, Henry Tudor, triumphs as King of England.

1539. Anne of Cleves wins the dangerous prize of becoming Henry VIII’s fourth wife. From the start, Anne’s royal blood, education and fierce intelligence count for nothing as the king pursues young Katherine Howard. Katherine is a pawn in the political manoeuvres of her ambitious family; unprepared for the dangers that await, she steps into their trap. At her side is kinswoman Jane Boleyn, who has served - and betrayed - one queen already: her sister-in-law Anne, who died on Henry’s scaffold. Will Jane betray a second queen to the headsman?

It is 1685 and England is on the brink of a renewed civil war. King Charles II has died without an heir and his brother James is to take the throne. But the people are bitterly divided, and many do not welcome the new king or his young queen. Ned Ferryman cannot persuade his sister, Alinor, that he is right to return from America with his Pokanoket servant, Rowan, to join the rebel army. Instead, Alinor and her daughter Alys, have been coaxed by the manipulative Livia to save the queen from the coming siege.

Elizabeth Woodville is a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty. A woman who rises to the demands of her position and fights tenaciously for the success of her family. A woman whose two sons become the central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower. Their fate remains unknown to this day.

The eagerly awaited first book in Philippa Gregory’s sweeping new series begins with the story of Alinor, a young midwife who finds herself tempted by a forbidden love affair. But in a society that has already set a path for her, she is all too aware of the dangers that await a woman who dares step out of place....

Lily Valance wants to forget the war. She's determined to enjoy the world of the 1920s, with its music, singing, laughter and pleasure. When she meets Captain Stephen Winters, a decorated hero back from the Front, she's drawn to his wealth and status. The hidden tensions of the respectable facade of the Winters household come to a head. Stephen's nightmares merge ever closer with reality and the truth of what took place in the mud and darkness brings him and all who loves him to a terrible reckoning ...

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Philippa Gregory’s new historical novel tracks the rise of the Tidelands family in London, Venice, and New England.

1558. After years of waiting, Princess Elizabeth accedes to the throne of England. For many, Elizabeth’s ascension is a glorious new dawn. Not so for Amy Dudley, whose ambitious husband, Sir Robert, is the acknowledged favourite of the new queen - a queen who must marry to secure her survival. But Robert Dudley has many powerful enemies. And although she is clearly besotted with him, the virgin queen will not risk her hold on the throne.

The riveting story of Margaret Pole, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, and was one of the few surviving members of the Plantagenet dynasty after the Wars of the Roses. Plantagenet, once carried proudly by Margaret like a crown upon her head, is now, at the end of the 15th century, the most dangerous name in England...

Anne Neville and her sister Isabel are daughters of the most powerful magnate in 15th century England. Ever ruthless, always plotting, in the absence of a son and heir, Warwick sets about using his daughters as pawns in his political games. Anne grows from a delightful child brought up at the court of Edward IV and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville, intimacy and friendship with the family of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Her life is overturned when her father turns on his former allies, escapes England and invades with an enemy army.

It was easy for Elizabeth. She married the man she loved, bore him two children and made a home for him which was the envy of their friends. It was harder for Ruth. She married Elizabeth’s son and then found that, somehow, she could never quite measure up. Isolation, deceit and betrayal fill the gaps between the two individual women and between their different worlds. In this complex thriller, Philippa Gregory deploys all her insight into what women want and what women fear, as Ruth confronts the shifting borders of her own sanity.

Philippa Gregory's first story in the best-selling Wideacre trilogy. A compelling tale of passion and intrigue set in the 18th century. From the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin's Lover. Wideacre Hall, set in the heart of the English countryside, is the ancestral home that Beatrice Lacey loves. But as a woman of the 18th century, she has no right of inheritance. Corrupted by a world that mistreats women, she sets out to corrupt others.

The year is 1492. Sixteen-year-old Titus Devere is thrown out of his religious order after proving that a divine revelation (blood streaming from a religious icon) was a fake, using his knowledge of Moorish science. He is brilliant and gorgeous but, cast as a heretic, he is sent to the Vatican in Rome where he expects to be punished or executed. Instead he is recruited into a secret order investigating strange occurrences across Europe. Known as The Order of the Dragon, it is headed up by a mysterious man with a tattoo of a coiled dragon on his arm.

1491. Henry VII’s eldest son, Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, has been betrothed since childhood to the Spanish princess Katherine of Aragon. Their marriage will cement the alliance Henry Tudor craves to secure his country. But when Arthur’s sudden death leaves an 11-year-old boy heir to the kingdom, Henry Tudor must choose whether to send Katherine back to Spain or to marry her himself. Katherine has no son from her brief marriage to secure her future; her substantial dowry and his powerful contract are at stake.