THREE MORE NOVELS ON FEMALE COURTIERS

The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory (2001)

Mary Boleyn, sister oof the more famous Anne, is at the heart oof Philippa Gregory’s well-known novel, mmade into a 2008 film with Scarlett Johansson in the title role. This tale of the Boleyns’ ambitions combines the pageturning qualities of the blockbusting bestseller with genuinely deep and wide-ranging historical research. Gregory uses convincing detail and dialogue to take readers into the heart of the claustrophobic Tudor court and its endless intrigues.

Innocent Traitor Alison Weir (2006)

Historian Alison Weir has recently embarked on a series of a novels aabout Henry VIII’s six queens. But she first turned to fiction over a decade ago with this re-telling of the tragic tale of Lady Jane Grey, the young girl who was propelled by the scheming of her family into a nine-day reign as queen after the death of Edward VI, and became one of the saddest victims of the era’s power politics.

The Girl in the Glass Tower Elizabeth Fremantle (2016)

Two historical figures, women who have since slipped into obscurity, are at the heart of this fascinating novel. Lady Arbella Stuart, great-granddaughter of Henry VIII’s sister, was often seen as the heir to Elizabeth I, and her life was shaped and overshadowed by her closeness to the throne; Aemilia Lanyer was a poet and possibly the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Fremantle creates a compelling narrative in which their fates are intertwined.