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Original poster

Phillipa Gregory fans...which is your favourite book for hers?

39 replies

soldieron · 08/07/2012 00:02

Have read one or two..and don't know which one to go for next. Some of them seem to be part of a series..can I read those as one offs or is it best to start with the first one?

OP posts:
Viviennemary · 10/07/2012 20:14

I totally loved The Other Boleyn Girl. It was so full of atmoshphere I actually thought I was there!!. I was disappointed in the Queen's Fool, and only read a chapter. So haven't tried the others yet.

RoxyRobin · 10/07/2012 20:08

LadyInPink, if you're interested in a fictional male perspective on the Tudor period I would recommend the C J Sansom series of murder mysteries featuring the hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake as protagonist.

Shardlake is a complex but sympathetic hero, and the books are dense with historical detail - a very good read.

PeggyCarter · 10/07/2012 19:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LadyInPink · 10/07/2012 19:12

Meant to say mil bought me the Queen's Fool several B'days agoand ever since then have got into P.G Smile

VivaLeBeaver · 10/07/2012 19:12

Wideacre trilogy here as well.

LadyInPink · 10/07/2012 19:11

My mil bought me The Queen's Fool as a b'day present and hadn't heard of P.G before and absolutley loved it (although in places I was biting my nails and inwardly shivering at the brutal things they did to Heretic's back then)! I've just bought The Virgin's Lover as have read mostly all her other books now but somehow missed this one. Finished The Lady of the Rivers and loved that one too.

Was bought David Starkey's 'Six Wives' The Queen's of Henry VIII as a b'day present too so will enjoy reading that from a different male perspective!

BillyBollyBandy · 10/07/2012 19:04

Galaxy I have just downloaded her essay on Jacquetta, part of a book called "The Women of The Cousins War". Good read if you haven't seen it.

Galaxymum · 10/07/2012 14:03

I've really enjoyed The Cousins War novels as it was all new to me. I think Lady of The Rivers is now one of my favourites of Phillippa Gregory's. It completely sparked my historical curiosity and imagination.

I also rated The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance and The Queen's Fool as best.

I thought The Other Queen and some of her other novels like The Wise Woman quite poor.

VisuallyChallengedFiend · 10/07/2012 13:38

I didn't like any of them much except The Other Boleyn Girl which I thought was pretty good. (the film was shit though)

ninjanurse · 08/07/2012 14:21

The Tudor series are to be read as

The Constant Princess (Katherine of Aragon)
The Other Boleyn Girl (Anne Boleyn)
The Boleyn Inheritance (Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard)
The Queens Fool (Mary 1st)
The Virgins LOver (Elizabeth 1ST)
The Other Queen (Mary Queen of Scots)

Although they are all stand alone, this is the order historically. The Other Queen is the weakest and the one I enjoyed least.

clayfeet · 08/07/2012 11:06

The wideacre trilogy.

BillyBollyBandy · 08/07/2012 11:00

The Boleyn books are my favourite. The Cousins War series is okay, and the rest of the Tudors re good, but I think the Boleyn Inheritance is excellent.

I agree you can read them as stand alone books.

IHeartKingThistle · 08/07/2012 10:57

I loved The Constant Princess.

RoxyRobin · 08/07/2012 10:48

I've read her books more or less at random depending on whichever is available at the library or I've found in a charity shop.

I don't feel I've lost much by this approach - they are stand-alones, really. Though if I were buying her books from Waterstone's or Amazon I would probably go for a more orderly method.

In case you are unaware of it, I'd like to take this opportunity to point out the existence of Gregory's 'The Little House', which is a contemporary thriller completely unlike her historical work. I feel that it's overlooked, but it's very good! It was televised a few years ago, and I enjoyed the adaptation, too.