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Editorial Review:
Praise for 'The Constant Princess': 'One of Gregory's great strengths as a novelist is her ability to take familiar historical figures and flesh them into living breathing human beings. "The Constant Princess" is a worthy successor to her previous novels about the Tudors and deserves to be a bestseller.' Daily Express 'Gregory's research is impeccable which makes her imaginative fiction all the more convincing.' Daily Mail 'Gregory is great at conjuring a Tudor film-set of gorgeous gowns and golden-plattered dining.' Telegraph 'The contemporary mistress of historical crime. Her novels are filled with strong, determined women who take their fate into their own hands!Gregory brings to life the sights, smells and textures of 16th-century England.' Kate Mosse, Financial Times 'The Constant Princess': 'If romantic historical novels are your cup of tea, The Constant Princess will not disappoint. Gregory vividly reconstructs life in the Spanish royal household, and contributes to the sense of Katherine's foreignness.' The Times 'Sweeping historical romance!..her tale almost reads like fiction rather than real history, at least in Gregory's very capable hands.' The Mirror 'Philippa Gregory is bang on form again as mistress of the Tudor chronicle, bringing to life all the intrigue of the era with great finesse.' Daily Express 'Full of gorgeous scenery, emotional moments and passionate sex' Sunday Telegraph 'The Virgin's Lover': 'A book to lose yourself in...a simmering mixture of intrigue, lust and betrayal at the court of Elizabeth I, it breathes new life into the suspected love affair between the young queen and Robert Dudley.' Daily Mail 'Convincing and entertaining'. Daily Telegraph 'Historical fiction at its best.' Choice 'An enjoyable read, and Gregory's energetic writing carries one along.' Sunday Telegraph 'A fascinating new take on a story we thought we knew.' Eve 'Highly readable, highly enjoyable.' Manchester City Life 'History has a sexy makeover in an erotic account of Elizabeth l's relationship with the married and tantalisingly unavailable Robert Dudley.' Glamour, Books of the Year 'Gripping and often moving.' Image 'Packed with court intrigue and sumptuous detail.' Dublin Evening Herald 'Gregory's success lies in restoring humanity to her historical figures.' Daily Mail 'Gregory vivdly portrays court life - all the political intrigue, divided loyalties, love and betrayal.' Woman and Home 'Gregory is one of the best chroniclers of the ups and downs of the turbulent Tudors...This superbly plotted drama unfolds like an exquisitely embroidered Tudor ruff.' Sainsbury's Magazine 'Queen of the historical novel.' Mail on Sunday 'Gregory creates an intriguing tale with many an unexpected twist.' Glasgow Herald 'The Other Boleyn Girl': 'It is a credit to Gregory that she is able to sustain interest in an epic-length tale when the ending is one of the most well-known moments in English history. The very believable dialogue and detail take you all the way into the claustrophobic privy chambers of the royal palaces!Gregory has launched herself into a popular period and produced something with that most underrated of virtues: readability.' The Times 'This is an intelligent variation on a familiar tale [with] witty use of metaphor.' Time Literary Supplement 'This compulsively readable novel is a wonderful account of the tudor court!This is the finest historical novel of this year.' Daily Mail 'The Queen's Fool': With her excellent eye for detail, [Gregory] moves The Queen's Fool along at a great pace.' Marie Claire Australia 'Totally absorbing!this is a triumphant piece of storytelling, not least because Gregory manages to make familiar events fresh and unloved people fascinating.' Gay Times 'Gregory offers a subtle examination of the tension between profound personal faith and the dangers of imposing that faith on others.' Jewish Quarterly 'It combines history and invention in gripping and memorable style.' Red 'Gregory weaves a brilliant and complex fictional web around historical fact. Hugely enjoyable.' Sainsbury's Magazine 'Historical fiction at its most masterly. Meticulously researched and realised and with an engaging and totally convincing heroine, "The Queen's Fool" invites readers to rethink their opinions of both 'Bloody' Mary and the 'Virgin' Queen. Superbly plotted, exquisitely written with the enviable capacity to simultaneously thrill and provoke thought, this novel is even more 'unputdownable' than "The Other Boleyn Girl."' Historical Novels Review 'Gregory serves up some more deliciously sombre moments from a factious Tudor court.' Independent 'Gregory's dramatic, plot-driven novel is thoroughly readable.' Sunday Herald The author of The Other Boleyn Girl (2002) returns to the executed queen's doomed family in a historical novel that maps the sad demise of Henry VIII in a series of intimate personal testimonies.Gregory's tale of greed and revenge takes place against the short, unhappy tenures of Henry's fourth and fifth wives. Jockeying for position close to the throne, three powerful, ambitious women collide. The author skillfully allows each character to tell her side of the story in her own words. The first voice we hear belongs to 30-year-old Jane Boleyn, widowed sister-in-law to Anne. Jane's husband George was implicated in his sister's alleged infidelities and went with her to the scaffold in 1533; his calculating wife moved to save her inheritance rather than her husband and six years later is still scheming. Next up is Anne of Cleves, soon to be Queen Number Four, a provincial, German-speaking Protestant princess chosen by Henry's advisor, Thomas Cromwell, as a politically suitable alliance to keep Spain and France at bay. Badgered and bullied all her life by her brother and mother, 24-year-old Anne wants nothing more than to escape Cleves and have a meaningful life. The third voice belongs to Katherine Howard, a pretty, 15-year-old cousin of the dead Anne Boleyn and an incorrigible flirt who is brought to court as a lady-in-waiting by her conniving, powerful uncle, the Duke of Norfolk. Also summoned to court to attend the new queen, Jane begins plotting behind the scenes with Norfolk to assure Anne of Cleve's hasty fall and Katherine's quick ascent in Henry's favor. Gregory's knowledge of the period, combined with her novelistic skill, allows her to view this grim tale through the eyes of the three women: wily, experienced Jane; naive, sensible Anne; and vain, greedy young Kitty. Their first-person accounts are convincing and shockingly self-serving.Royal history spoon-fed in a highly digestible form. (Kirkus Reviews)
/ Key title From the bestselling author of 'The Other Boleyn Girl' comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. / Gregory is a UK top ten bestseller in hardback and paperback. / 'The Constant Princess' sold over 55,000 copies in hardback and was a top ten bestseller. / 'The Virgin's Lover' was in the bestseller charts in the UK and the US at the same time as it was Number One in New Zealand. / 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and 'The Queen's Fool' are in development for major cinema release. / Gregory is a publicist's dream and is well-known for regular appearances on Channel 4's 'Time Team' and Radio 4's 'The History Quiz'. She was also a Whitbread judge in 2005. / Major marketing campaign for even greater paperback success. / Competition: Sarah Dunant, Rose Tremain, Hilary Mantel, Deborah Moggach
From the bestselling author of 'The Other Boleyn Girl' comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Katherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty, is Philippa Gregory's most compelling novel yet.
From the bestselling author of 'The Other Boleyn Girl' comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Katherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty, is Philippa Gregory's most compelling novel yet.
The stories of three young women, trying to survive the most volatile and dangerous court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty, is Philippa Gregory's most intense and compelling novel yet.
Philippa Gregory is an established writer and broadcaster for radio and television. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. She lives in the North of England with her family.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
......divorced, beheaded...... This is the story of 3 women, 3 very different women and 1 very odd man. Katherine is just fourteen when she lands a job that thrusts her into the spotlight of Henry, the man whose riches and homes she wants to share but at the moment this is only a dream, in the wilful childlike head of hers, a head which does not understand the consequences of any of her actions. Anne is new, she has been contracted into an arranged marriage to Henry, has only seen a portrait of him and him of her. However their... more info
Rashomon for the Tudor Set This novel is written from the viewpoint of three very different women - the naive yet quick-witted Anne of Cleves, the calculating Jane Boleyn and the greedy and childish Catherine Howard. They take turns by each chapter telling their view of events as they occur over a fairly brief period of time. Anne is set aside by the King in favor of Catherine, and it's the best thing that could have happened to her. She's the only one of the King's wives to survive a parting in a fairly benign (compared to the... more info
Another EXCELLENT Read This is the second novel I've read by Philippa Gregory's; it's also the sequel to 'The Other Boleyn Girl' which I've recently read and reviewed. The book is based around Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn. It's follows how their leave change when each become part of the court of Henry VIII. Poor Anne of Cleves, leave her country to marry a king old enough to be her father, she is not how royalty should be, so she becomes another victim of Henry VIII, but he allows her to live but in... more info
Just brilliant! This is my third PG novel having read TOBG and TCP then this one. I have to say I loved how it was written from three completely different view points. Although it is fiction based with real historical facts it was good to finally read something more of Katherine Howard as I find I know very little about her of all the wives. I feel it gives more of an insight into Jane Boelyn and although I do not agree with the way in which she helped with the downfall of Anne and George and then Katherine, I... more info
