Philippa Gregory’s Top 9 Historical Novels

Philippa Gregory is the author of dozens of lush, richly researched historical novels that put a spotlight on women, particularly the queens and paramours of the 15th- and 16th-century British court. Among her most beloved works are her Tudor Court series, telling the stories of King Henry VIII’s imperiled wives, and the Cousins’ War series, set during the War of the Roses and including miniseries inspiration The White Queen, the story of a beautiful commoner who became the Queen Consort of King Edward IV. With The Taming of the Queen, out August 25, she tells the story of Henry VIII’s final bride, Kateryn Parr. Twice-widowed and in love with Thomas Seymour when ordered to marry Henry, Kateryn enters the union knowing it might prove fatal. Gregory fascinates with her depiction of a royal court ruled by a tempestuous tyrant, and with her Kateryn, an intelligent survivor who must learn from her predecessors’ mistakes how best to manage her husband—as well as her family’s expectations that she champion their Protestant cause. Here’s Gregory on her own favorite historical novels.

The Devil’s Cub, by Georgette Heyer
Amazingly, this is the first historical novel I ever read, and I fell in love with the hero and the spirited heroine at the age of about 11. I could not have started with a greater author; whether she is writing historical romance, or historical fiction which is wide-scale and rooted in historical events, Heyer sets a very high bar.

The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge
This is an interesting mixture of historical fantasy and historical fiction, telling the story of an heiress to a Victorian estate whose lands include a mysterious forest and forces of evil. A childhood classic.

The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
Everyone has their own beloved version of the Arthurian legend, this is mine. Stewart brings the young Merlin and the young Arthur alive in a realistic post-Roman Britain with a powerful sense of magic and history combined.

The Corn King and the Spring Queen, by Naomi Mitchison
A huge and enthralling novel set in the ancient world where magic and portents are as real and as realistically described as the seasons of the year. This book from a writer who was both a scholar and a tribal elder brings a pagan world alive.

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Hugely famous, this is an irresistible whirlwind of a book with far more history of the defeat of the South in the American Civil War than the film credits.

Orlando, by Virginia Woolf
A time-travelling, time-free, even gender-free hero/heroine leads the reader from one brilliantly imagined and described period to another. The ice-fair on the Thames is a masterpiece of storytelling which inspires me still.

The King Must Die, by Mary Renault
The famous retelling of the story of Theseus, the minotaur and the classical world. Essential reading for the holidaymaker in Crete, who finds that it makes the Palace of Knossos come alive, and for the serious scholar alike.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne
This poignant, moving story of the child of a Nazi death camp commander answers the important question—can one fictionalise the Holocaust? This book answers yes, for great tragedy can lie in the detail.

Simple Gifts, by Joanne Greenberg
I don’t know why this book is not universally adored. It deals with an eccentric, very poor family in remote Colorado who are paid to create a “heritage” experience,  making their farm into a pioneer homestead of the 1880s. The question of authenticity and heritage versus history is central to the novel as it is to all historical fiction.