English Women in Historical Fiction
Explore captivating English historical fiction featuring strong women protagonists. Discover top novels that bring the lives of England's legendary women to life, from medieval queens to Victorian heroines.
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Legacy
by Susan Kay
Chronicles the story of England's Queen Elizabeth the First, a woman of intense passions and very human desires, and of the three men whose passionate love for her altered history
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Katherine
by Anya Seton
This classic romance novel tells the true story of the love affair that changed history-- that of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the ancestors of most of the British royal family. Set in the vibrant 14th century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets-- Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II-- who ruled despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king's son, falls passionately in love with the already married Katherine. Their well-documented affair and love persist through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption. This epic novel of conflict, cruelty, and untamable love has become a classic since its first publication in 1954.
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The Forgotten Queen
by Haley Elizabeth Garwood
Set against the turbulent backdrop of 12th-century England, "The Forgotten Queen" is the tale of a warrior, Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England and granddaughter of William the Conqueror and her struggle to overcome political intrigues, prejudice, and the lover who steals her crown. Available now.
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The Red Queen
by Ruth S. Perot
This novel, The Red Queen, covers England's War of the Roses, 1444-1475. Fascinating characters abound in that period. There are, in addition to Margaret, who was married at age 14: Henry VI, her husband, who was 'fitter for a cowl than a crown.' Cardinal Beaufort, who pushed the marriage. The Duke of Gloucester, who opposed it. Warwick the Kingmaker, Margaret's greatest enemy. The Yorkists and Lancastrians who tore England apart. Margaret was a strong woman more suited to our own times than her own. Overlooked, it is time she is reintroduced as a heroine for today's readers.
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The Fifth Queen
by Ford Madox Ford
This masterful performance of historical fiction centers on Katharine Howard -- clever, beautiful, and outspoken -- who catches the jaded eye of Henry VIII and becomes his fifth Queen. Corruption and fear pervade the King's court, and the dimly lit corridors vibrate with the intrigues of unscrupulous courtiers hungry for power. Soon Katharine is locked in a vicious battle with Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Privy Seal, as she fights for political and religious change. Ford saw the past as an integral part of the present experience and understanding, and his sharply etched vision of the court of Henry VIII -- first published in 1908 -- echoes aspects of Edwardian England as it explores the pervading influence of power, lies, fear, and anxiety on people's lives. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
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In the Shadow of the Crown
by Jean Plaidy
Dramatizes the life and reign of "Bloody Mary" and her attempt to avenge her mother's abandonment by King Henry VIII and to reinstate Catholicism in England
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Katharine, the Virgin Widow
by Jean Plaidy
Katharine of Aragon faces an uncertain future of poverty, humiliation, and exile, until she catches the eye of the new heir to the British throne
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Queen of This Realm
by Jean Plaidy
Plaidy presents Elizabeth I, England's greatest monarch, in the many stages of her dramatic life a bewildered, motherless child of an all-powerful father, a captive in the Tower of London, a would-be lover frustrated by the exigencies of politics and power, and eventually, the icon of her era.
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Lady Jane
by Anthony Charles H. Smith
A biography of the ill-fated Queen of England who ruled for only 9 days in 1553.
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The Fatal Crown
by Ellen Jones
From shadowy intrigues at court and church, to battlefields where there are no victories, Maud and Stephen accept the destiny that forces them to surrender their love for a crown.
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Crown in Candlelight
by Rosemary Hawley Jarman
The novel centers on the passions and deeds of the English kings who laid claim to the French throne during the Hundred Years War
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The Queen's Secret
by Jean Plaidy
Enchanted by her marriage to Henry V of England, Princess Katherine is horrified when her husband is killed and her small son, Henry VI, is taken from her to be raised by others. Reprint.
