Henry VIII died 475 years ago, on 28 January, 1547. To mark the occasion, we asked the author Carol McGrath to draw upon her new book, Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England, to examine the king’s notoriously turbulent sex life. She focusses on the driving force behind his many marriages: his obsession with fathering a […]
The Damask Rose by Carol McGrath
It’s 1266. Eleanor of Castile, adored wife of the Crown Prince of England, is still only a princess when she is held hostage in the brutal Barons’ Rebellion and her baby daughter dies. Scarred by privation, a bitter Eleanor swears revenge on those who would harm her family – and vows never to let herself […]
The Silken Rose by Carol McGrath
1236. Beautiful Ailenor of Provence, cultured and intelligent, is only thirteen when she marries Henry III. Aware of the desperate importance of providing heirs to secure the throne from those who would snatch it away, she is ruthless in her dealings with Henry’s barons. As conflict escalates between them, Ailenor’s shrewd and clever Savoyard uncles […]
Opus Anglicanum: the beauty of medieval English embroidery
Some of the most prestigious fabrics of the 13th and 14th centuries were produced by women, in secular workshops as well as in religious orders throughout England. Carol McGrath writes about the luxurious garments that gave her the background for one of the characters in her latest novel, The Silken Rose. English embroidery was once […]
The Silken Rose by Carol McGrath
1236. Beautiful Ailenor of Provence, cultured and intelligent, is only thirteen when she marries Henry III. Aware of the desperate importance of providing heirs to secure the throne from those who would snatch it away, she is ruthless in her dealings with Henry’s barons. As conflict escalates between them, Ailenor’s shrewd and clever Savoyard uncles come […]
The Woman in the Shadows by Carol Mcgrath
Carol McGrath has left the 11th century to add yet another book to the already crowded shelves of Tudor novels. As somebody who writes about the 19th-century, I have always struggled with the wild enthusiasm that people seem to feel for books about the Tudors, but The Woman in the Shadows has brought the period alive for […]
The Woman in the Shadows by Carol McGrath
The powerful, evocative new novel by the critically acclaimed author of The Handfasted Wife, The Woman in the Shadows presents the rise of Thomas Cromwell, Tudor England’s most powerful statesman, through the eyes of his wife Elizabeth. When beautiful cloth merchant’s daughter Elizabeth Williams is widowed at the age of twenty-two, she is determined to make herself a […]
Top ten books about the Russian Revolution
At Queens University Belfast, I read Russian Studies and English for my first degree. My enjoyment of novels set in Russia has never left me. The centenary of The Russian Revolution is an opportunity for me to revisit books that are set just before, during and in the immediate aftermath of the revolution. These selected […]