How does a historian challenge the ‘misogynistic Monroe myth’ of lateness, drinking, and emotional fragility? Not by denying it, says Lucy Jane Santos, but by showing that memories can be faulty, stories retold and reshaped for their audience – and Marilyn’s own words are largely missing. And by remembering that history, like memory, is not […]
Princesses of the Later Middle Ages by Sharon Bennett Connolly
The medieval princess has often been portrayed as a pawn in the political machinations of her father or brother, married off to distant lands for the sake of peace, or land, or both. Never to be seen or thought of again. But was that really her fate? Princesses of the Later Middle Ages examines the […]
Plantagenet princesses in the troubled late Middle Ages
How did the daughters of Plantagenet Kings of England deal with the tumults of the late Middle Ages? Sharon Bennett Connolly, historian and author, explains how they responded to the challenges of plague, rebellion, war — and marriage into other royal dynasties. Until writing Princesses of the Later Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets, […]
The women of the Blitz (and what I learned from them)
Who were the real hero(ine)s of the Blitz? “The wartime mothers of the East End,” one former doctor, who saved many lives, told author Kate Thompson. Kate writes about the lessons she learned from interviewing East London women who’d survived the bombs: the daughters of childminders, abortionists, money-lenders; the costermonger, the butcher, the singer. These […]
The challenges of researching working class lives
If you want to write fiction or non-fiction based around the court of Henry VIII or of Queen Victoria, you’ll have plenty of sources to draw on. Researching working class lives is more challenging. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, argues Esther Freeman. When writing my book – Great Women of London – one […]
Was CS Lewis a misogynist?
Was CS Lewis a misogynist? Many people think he was, often based on what’s called the ‘Susan problem’ in The Last Battle. But while researching her debut novel, a mystery based on his life in Oxford in the 1940s, Maureen Paton found plenty of evidence to show that he was not; in fact, he challenged […]
Heroines of the Tudor World by Sharon Bennett Connolly
These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. These are the women who made a difference, who influenced countries, kings and the Reformation. This book focuses on the women who lived through the Renaissance and Reformation, examining the threats and challenges […]
Under cover for Britain: two female WWII agents, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade and Barbara Bertram
Marie-Madeleine Fourcade led a French intelligence network supplying information to MI6. Barbara Bertram ran a secret safe house for agents in Surrey. They met several times. Here, Rachel Hore writes about how the two women sparked the idea for her new novel, and the challenges of writing fiction about real people. My new novel, The […]