My Favorite British Historical Fiction Books
Discover the best British historical fiction books with our curated list of favorites. Immerse yourself in captivating tales of Britain's past, from royal dramas to wartime sagas.
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The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
by Carolly Erickson
Awaiting her execution, Marie Antoinette writes the story of her life, describing her privileged childhood as an Austrian archduchess, years as the glamorous mistress of Versailles, and imprisonment during the French Revolution.
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Katherine
by Anya Seton
A biographical novel concerning the love affair between Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, in fourteenth-century England.
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The Secret Bride
by Diane Haeger
For fans of The Tudors comes a captivating drama about the only woman who could defy Henry VIII -and keep her life. Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VII, has always been her brother's favorite-but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to the elderly, ailing King Louis of France, a heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old king dies, her next marriage shall be solely of her choosing. For Mary has a forbidden passion, and is determined, through her own cunning, courage, and boldness, to forge her own destiny. The Secret Bride is the triumphant tale of one extraordinary woman who meant to stay true to her heart and live her life just as her royal brother did- by her own rules...
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The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
by Robin Maxwell
When Elizabeth I assumes the throne of England, she is given the secret diary of her mother Anne Boleyn, who was betrayed and beheaded by her husband Henry VIII. In reading the diary she learns about her mother's life and determines to heed the lessons of her mother's difficult life.
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Mademoiselle Boleyn
by Robin Maxwell
From the author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn comes a riveting portrait of Anne Boleynâs youth and her unconventional education in the court of the King of France. When her father is assigned the task of spying on the French Court, the charming and sweetly innocent Anne Boleyn is delighted by the thought of a new adventure. And she is not to be disappointed, for her beautiful sister, Mary, has been handed a mission: to let herself be seduced by the King of France in order to uncover his secrets. Mesmerized by the thrilling passion, intrigue, and betrayal that unfolds, Anne discovers the power of being a woman who catches the eye of a powerful king. And, as she grows into a beautiful young woman, she undergoes her own sexual awakening, each daring exploit taking her one step closer to the life that is her destiny.
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Katharine of Aragon
by Jean Plaidy
For the first time in paperbackâall three of Jean Plaidyâs Katharine of Aragon novels in one volume. Legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy begins her tales of Henry VIIIâs queens with the story of his first wife, the Spanish princess Katharine of Aragon. As a teenager, Katharine leaves her beloved Spain, land of olive groves and soaring cathedrals, for the drab, rainy island of England. There she is married to the kingâs eldest son, Arthur, a sickly boy who dies six months after the wedding. Katharine is left a widow who was never truly a wife, lonely in a strange land, with a very bleak future. Her only hope of escape is to marry the kingâs second son, Prince Henry, now heir to the throne. Tall, athletic, handsome, a lover of poetry and music, Henry is all that Katharine could want in a husband. But their first son dies and, after many more pregnancies, only one child survives, a daughter. Disappointed by his lack of an heir, Henryâs eye wanders, and he becomes enamored of another womanâa country noblemanâs daughter named Anne Boleyn. When Henry begins searching for ways to put aside his loyal first wife, Katharine must fight to remain Queen of England and to keep the husband she once loved so dearly.
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The Sixth Wife
by Jean Plaidy
Dangerous court intrigue and affairs of the heart collide as renowned novelist Jean Plaidy tells the story of Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIIIâs six queens. Henry VIIIâs fifth wife, Katherine Howard, was both foolish and unfaithful, and she paid for it with her life. Henry vowed that his sixth wife would be different, and she was. Katherine Parr was twice widowed and thirty-one years old. A thoughtful, well-read lady, she was known at court for her unblemished reputation and her kind heart. She had hoped to marry for love and had set her heart on Thomas Seymour, the dashing brother of Henryâs third queen. But the aging kingâmore in need of a nurse than a wifeâwas drawn to her, and Katherine could not refuse his proposal of marriage. Queen Katherine was able to soothe the Kingâs notorious temper, and his three children grew fond of her, the only mother they had ever really known. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a volatile tyrant, books were Katherineâs consolation. But among her intellectual pursuits was an interest in Lutheranismâa religion that the king saw as a threat to his supremacy as head of the new Church of England. Courtiers envious of the Queenâs influence over Henry sought to destroy her by linking her with the âradicalâ religious reformers. Henry raged that Katherine had betrayed him, and had a warrant drawn up for her arrest and imprisonment. At court it was whispered that the king would soon execute yet another wife. Henryâs sixth wife would have to rely on her wits to survive where two other women had perished. . . .
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The Constant Princess
by Philippa Gregory
Pre-order BOLEYN TRAITOR now - Philippa Gregory's landmark return to the Tudor court, coming Autumn 2025 ... A splendid and sumptuous historical novel from the internationally bestselling author, Philippa Gregory, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon. I was born a princess, destined to be queen, and I know my duty. 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. Henry has reckoned without the determination of a young woman set on fulfilling her own destiny to be a queen - and the ambition of Prince Harry, the future Henry VIII. Don't miss THE SPANISH PRINCESS on Amazon Prime, based on The Constant Princess and The King's Curse ...
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The Boleyn Inheritance
by Philippa Gregory
From the "New York Times"-bestselling author of "The Other Boleyn Girl" comesa tempestuous Tudor tale about two queens, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr, and the woman who destroys them both.
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The Virgin's Lover
by Philippa Gregory
From #1 New York Times bestselling author and âqueen of royal fictionâ (USA TODAY) comes a riveting and scandalous love triangle between a young woman on the brink of greatness, a young man whose ambition far exceeds his means, and the wife who cannot forgive them. In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen, yet one woman hears the tidings with utter dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows that Elizabethâs ambitious leap to the throne will draw her husband back to the center of the glamorous Tudor court, where he was born to be. Elizabethâs excited triumph is short-lived. She has inherited a bankrupt country where treason is rampant and foreign war a certainty. Her faithful advisors warns her that she will survive only if she marries a strong prince to govern the rebellious country, but the one man Elizabeth desires is her childhood friend, the ambitious Robert Dudley. As the young couple falls back in love, a question hangs in the air: can he really set aside his wife and marry the queen? When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival.
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The Queen's Fool
by Philippa Gregory
A young woman caught in the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half sister, Elizabeth must find her true destiny amid treason, poisonous rivalries, loss of faith, and unrequited love.
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The King's Favorite
by Susan Holloway Scott
The acclaimed author of Duchess and Royal Harlot returns with the unforgettable story of a king's last love and London's darling? BRNell Gwyn has never been a lady, nor does she pretend to be. Blessed with impudent wit and saucy beauty, she swiftly rises from the poverty of Covent Garden to become a sensation in the theater. Still in her teens, she catches the eye of King Charles II, and trades the stage for Whitehall Palace-and the role of royal mistress. Even though she delights the king, she must learn to negotiate the cutthroat royal court, where ambition and lust for power rule the hearts of all around her. For beneath her charm and light-heartedness, Nell has her own ambition-to become no less than the king's favorite.
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All for Love
by Amanda Elyot
A fictional portrait of eighteenth-century British actress Mary Robinson follows her life from the harsh poverty of debtors' prison, to the glamour, success, and scandal of the London stage, to her shocking public affair with the Prince of Wales, to her subsequent career as a poet, novelist, and ardent supporter of women's rights. By the author of Too Great a Lady. Original.
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Lady of the Roses
by Sandra Worth
During her short time as a ward in Queen Marguerite's Lancastrian court, fifteen-year-old Isobel has had many suitors ask for her hand, but the spirited beauty is blind to all but Yorkist Sir John Neville. It is nothing short of a miracle when the Queen allows Isobel's marriage to the enemy, albeit at a hefty price. All around Isobel and John rages a lawless war. It is only their passion that can see them through the bloody siege of London by the Duke of York, the violent madness of Queen Marguerite, and the devolution of Isobel's meek uncle into the Butcher of England. For theirs is an everlasting love that fears not the scratch of thorns, from either the Red Rose or the White.
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The Children of Henry VIII
by Alison Weir
âFascinating . . . Alison Weir does full justice to the subject.ââThe Philadelphia Inquirer At his death in 1547, King Henry VIII left four heirs to the English throne: his only son, the nine-year-old Prince Edward; the Lady Mary, the adult daughter of his first wife Katherine of Aragon; the Lady Elizabeth, the teenage daughter of his second wife Anne Boleyn; and his young great-niece, the Lady Jane Grey. In this riveting account Alison Weir paints a unique portrait of these extraordinary rulers, examining their intricate relationships to each other and to history. She traces the tumult that followed Henry's death, from the brief intrigue-filled reigns of the boy king Edward VI and the fragile Lady Jane Grey, to the savagery of "Bloody Mary," and finally the accession of the politically adroit Elizabeth I. As always, Weir offers a fresh perspective on a period that has spawned many of the most enduring myths in English history, combining the best of the historian's and the biographer's art. âLike anthropology, history and biography can demonstrate unfamiliar ways of feeling and being. Alison Weir's sympathetic collective biography, The Children of Henry VIII does just that, reminding us that human nature has changed--and for the better. . . . Weir imparts movement and coherence while re-creating the suspense her characters endured and the suffering they inflicted.ââThe New York Times Book Review
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Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley
by Alison Weir
Handsome, accomplished, and charming, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, staked his claim to the English throne by marrying Mary Stuart, who herself claimed to be the Queen of England. It was not long before Mary discovered that her new husband was interested only in securing sovereign power for himself. Then, on February 10, 1567, an explosion at his lodgings left Darnley dead; the intrigue thickened after it was discovered that he had apparently been suffocated before the blast. After an exhaustive reevaluation of the source material, Alison Weir has come up with a solution to this enduring mystery. Employing her gift for vivid characterization and gripping storytelling, Weir has written one of her most engaging excursions yet into Britainâs bloodstained, power-obsessed past.
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Innocent Traitor
by Alison Weir
I am now a condemned traitor . . . I am to die when I have hardly begun to live. Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weirâs enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Greyââthe Nine Daysâ Queenââa fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century. The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleynâs beheading and the demise of Janeâs infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Janeâs adolescent cousin, and Henryâs successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor. Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy. Alison Weir uses her unmatched skills as a historian to enliven the many dynamic characters of this majestic drama. Along with Lady Jane Grey, Weir vividly renders her devious parents; her much-loved nanny; the benevolent Queen Katherine Parr; Janeâs ambitious cousins; the Catholic âBloodyâ Mary, who will stop at nothing to seize the throne; and the protestant and future queen Elizabeth. Readers venture inside royal drawing rooms and bedchambers to witness the power-grabbing that swirls around Lady Jane Grey from the day of her birth to her unbearably poignant death. Innocent Traitor paints a complete and compelling portrait of this captivating young woman, a faithful servant of God whose short reign and brief life would make her a legend. âAn impressive debut. Weir shows skill at plotting and maintaining tension, and she is clearly going to be a major player in the . . . historical fiction game.â âThe Independent âAlison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction . . . Weir manages her heroineâs voice brilliantly, respecting the pastâs distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit.â âLondon Daily Mail
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I, Jacqueline
by Hilda Winifred Lewis
The extraordinary fifteenth century life of a woman of substance who endured the power politics of the courts of England, Burgundy and France.
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To Dance with Kings
by Rosalind Laker
An epic generational tale of loves lost, promises kept, dreams broken, and monarchies shattered, To Dance with Kings is a story of passion and privilege, humble beginnings and limitless ambition. On a May morning in 1664, in the small village of Versailles, as hundreds of young aristocrats are coming to pay court to King Louis XIV, a peasant fan-maker gives birth to her first and only child, Marguerite. Determined to give her daughter a better life than the one she herself has lived, the young mother vows to break the newbornâs bonds of poverty and ensure that she fulfills her destinyâto dance with kings. Purely by chance, a drunken nobleman witnesses the birth and makes a reckless promise to return for Marguerite in seventeen years. With those fateful words, events are set into motion that will span three monarchies, affecting the lives of four generations of women. Marguerite becomes part of the royal court of the Sun King, but her fairy-tale existence is torn out from under her by a change of political winds. Jasmin, Margueriteâs daughter, is born to the life of privilege her grandmother dreamed of, but tempts fate by daring to catch the eye of the king. Violette, Margueriteâs granddaughter, is drawn to the nefarious side of life among the nobles at Versailles. And Rose, Violetteâs daughter, becomes a lady-in-waiting and confidante to Marie Antoinette. Through Rose, a love lost generations before will come full circle, even as the ground beneath Versailles begins to rumble with the chaos of the coming revolution.
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Now Face to Face
by Karleen Koen
The unforgettable sequel to Karleen Koenâs beloved debut, Through a Glass Darkly A Book-of-the-Month Club main selection A bride at ïŹfteen, widowed at the tender age of twenty, Barbara, Countess Devane, embarks for colonial Virginia ïŹnancially ruined by the death of her husband in scandalous circumstances. Dressed in mourning as is proper for a woman, she is patronizingly described as a âfragile black butterfly,â but the fragility is deceiving. She makes a place for herself in the new world, takes lovers and friends across political divides, and questions the established traditions of slavery. Facing enemies she never suspected, she must return to England and deal face to face with the problems created by her husband, who haunts her even in death. Back in London, she quickly ïŹnds herself pulled into Jacobite plotting, and the treachery of powerful men suddenly threatens her family, her friendsâand a new love. Now Face to Face sweeps readers from eighteenth-century America to London and brings both worlds to vivid life. It is a magniïŹcent evocation of an era, from the plantations of Virginia to Hanoverian England.
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Jane Boleyn
by Julia Fox
Provides an account of the turbulent court of England's King Henry VIII and his queens, as seen through the eyes of Jane Rochford, sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn and cousin to Katherine Howard, who served as a lady-in-waiting for five of the king's wives.