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Philippa Gregory Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory Biography

Philippa Gregory was an established historian and writer when she discovered her interest in the Tudor period and wrote the novel The Other Boleyn Girl, which was made into a TV drama, and a major film. Now, six novels later, she is looking at the family that preceded the Tudors: the magnificent Plantaganets, a family of complex rivalries, loves, and hatreds. She lives with her family on a small farm in Yorkshire where she keeps horses, hens and ducks.

Her other great interest is the charity that she founded nearly twenty years ago: Gardens for The Gambia. She has raised funds and paid for 140 wells in the primary schools of this very dry and poor African country, and thousands of school children have been able to learn market gardening in the school gardens watered by the wells. The charity also provides wells for womens’ collective gardens and for The Gambia’s only agricultural college at Njawara.

A past student of Sussex university, and a PhD and Alumna of the Year 2009 of Edinburgh university, her love for history and commitment to historical accuracy are the hallmarks of her writing. She also reviews for the Washington Post, the LA Times, and for UK newspapers, and is a regular broadcaster on television and radio.

Philippa Gregory's website

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Interview

Philippa Gregory answers questions about her life, her writing and specifically about her books depicting the lives of Henry VIII's wives.

In your newest novel, The Boleyn Inheritance, you depict the life of King Henry VIII and his court through the eyes of three very different characters. Why did you choose to narrate this story through multiple voices and why these three women in particular?
I have a great liking for the first person narrative because I think it gets the reader into the head of the character; it’s a very immediate style. I realized that I wanted to tell the story from the point of view of the three women who were so intimately involved in the perils of being Queen of England at this time. Anne of Cleves, the wife that Henry chooses and rejects, Katherine Howard the girl he adores but who is too young to keep herself safe, and the woman who advises them both to their great danger: Lady Rochford, Jane Boleyn.


The Boleyn family utilized scheming and jockeying for favor in the court and in particular, for the favor of King Henry VIII. For Jane Rochford, the last in the Boleyn family, do you believe she knew her fate, the final fate of the Boleyn inheritance, when she went back to court?
Jane’s belief was that the Boleyn inheritance was wealth and fame and she sacrificed her husband George and her sister in ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Philippa Gregory at BookBrowse
The Kingmaker's Daughter jacket Changeling jacket The Lady of the Rivers jacket The Women of the Cousins' War jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Philippa Gregory but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Vanora Bennett

    Vanora Bennett

    Vanora Bennett became a journalist almost by accident. Having learned Russian and been hired after university by Reuters, she was catapulted out of the classical-music life of her family and straight into the adrenaline-... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Boleyn Inheritance

    Try:
    The Queen's Lover
    by Vanora Bennett

  • Tracy Chevalier

    Tracy Chevalier

    Tracy Chevalier was born in Washington, DC but has lived in England all her adult life. She now has dual citizenship. She has a BA in English from Oberlin College, Ohio and an MA in creative writing from the University of ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Boleyn Inheritance

    Try:
    The Lady and the Unicorn
    by Tracy Chevalier

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