10 Best Philippa Gregory Books

Mary Boleyn is pushed to court to charm King Henry VIII and finds herself competing with her sister Anne for his favour. As passion turns to politics, she must choose between family ambition, her own conscience and a safer life beyond the court.

Jacquetta of Luxembourg marries into England’s royal circle and learns to survive shifting allegiances from the last days of the Hundred Years’ War into the Wars of the Roses. As confidante to queens and mother to Elizabeth Woodville, she witnesses a dynasty’s rise and fall.

Widowed commoner Elizabeth Woodville stops a king on the road to beg for her sons’ inheritance and captures his heart instead. As Queen to Edward IV she must protect her vast family, navigate Warwick the Kingmaker’s anger and face the mystery of her lost princes.

Told by Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn, this novel follows Henry VIII’s fourth and fifth marriages. As the ageing king’s temper worsens, each woman must read the shifting winds of favour to avoid the fate that claimed Anne Boleyn.

Hannah Green, a young Jewish refugee with the gift of the Sight, is taken into the Tudor court as a “holy fool.” Serving Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I in turn, she spies, survives persecutions and learns where her true loyalties lie.

From childhood, devout and stubborn Margaret Beaufort believes her son Henry Tudor is destined to be king. Married off for politics and often separated from him, she spends years scheming, praying and risking everything to put him on England’s throne.

Raised to be Queen of England, Spanish infanta Catalina marries Prince Arthur and unexpectedly finds real love. When he dies, she clings to his deathbed wish and a dangerous lie so she can wed his brother Harry and claim the crown she was promised.

Born a Plantagenet, Margaret Pole learns to survive under Tudor suspicion. As lady-in-waiting and governess to royal children she watches Henry VIII’s transformation from charming prince to ruthless king, until old loyalties and new faith make her a target.

Anne Neville grows up as a pawn in the hands of her father, Warwick the Kingmaker, who will change sides and husbands for his daughters to keep his grip on power. Widowed young and nearly powerless, Anne seizes one last risky chance with Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Beatrice Lacey loves her family estate with a fierce obsession and refuses to accept that inheritance laws will force her to leave it. In Georgian Sussex she uses charm, sex and violence to keep control of Wideacre, with devastating costs for her family and tenants.