Hilary Mantel called her a "great fictionalising machine". For more than 30 years, the historical novelist Philippa Gregory has puréed real lives into romantic fiction frequently set in the royal courts of the 15th and 16th century. With titles like The Other Boleyn Girl, The White Queen, The Red Queen, Three Sisters, The Queen's Fool and The Other Queen, Gregory's crowning by media as "the queen of British historical fiction" seemed inevitable, even though historians do dispute her accuracy.
Gregory's fans might argue that romantic history doesn't have to be accurate - just escapist.
But now the queen is taking a break from queens, and fiction too, taking on the historians with an ambitious non-fiction work covering 900 years of ordinary English women's lives.
The title, a nod to Sally Rooney's Normal People, seems awkward, bluntly informative rather than ironic, although Gregory's women are anything but "normal". This is because, for centuries, the only traces most women left behind them were in legal documents. Births, deaths, marriages and court cases, some of them arrestingly lurid.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
