Margaret George.
I found her books when the television show The Tudors first came out on HBO and I was in the mood for fiction books from that era. I found "The Autobiography of King Henry VIII" I was a bit put off by the cover, afraid it was going to be a stuffy historical tome with little to offer in the way of entertainment. I was wrong. I LOVED the book. It spans his entire life, from birth to death. There were times in the book I'd run across something so outrageous I knew it had to be fiction so I'd google historical information on his life and always, these things were recorded as historical fact. How she ties real history with a fictionalized account of his life is very skillful and entertaining. From what info I could find, The Autobiography of King Henry VIII was originally published in 1986

After I finished King Henry's book I knew I had found an author whose storytelling I liked,so I sought out her other books. The next of her books I read was Helen of Troy. This book is described on Margaret George's website as "A lush, seductive novel of the legendary beauty whose face "launched a thousand ships" Lush is the perfect descriptive word. It's told in Helen's voice and the book captivated my attention from the first page.
Helen of Troy was originally published in 2006
My absolute favorite of her books is the one I read next. "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" I've never traveled anywhere farther than a day long car trip till I'd read this book. I went to Egypt, Alexandria, Rome! It is so vivid and engrossing that I really felt carried away. It was a shock to raise my eyes from the book for a moment and be in my own house instead of the places Cleopatra was at. I really can't brag on this book enough. I adore it. From the author's website: "Told in the first person -- from the young queen's earliest memories of her father's tenuous rule to her own reign over one of the most glittering kingdoms in the world--this is a mesmerizing saga of ambition and power."
The Memoirs of Cleopatra was first published in 1997

Mary Queen of Scots From the author's website " She became Queen of Scots when she was only six days old. Life among the warring factions in Scotland was dangerous for the infant Queen, however, and at age five Mary was sent to France to be raised alongside her betrothed, the Dauphin Francois. Surrounded by all the sensual comforts of the French court, Mary's youth was peaceful, charmed, and when she became Queen of France at the age of sixteen, she seemed to have all she could wish for. But by her eighteenth birthday, Mary was a widow who had lost one throne and had been named by the Pope for another. "
This was enjoyable after reading King Henry VIII's story. Also, it's worth reading because her current project is on the latter part of Elizabeth the First's reign.
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles was originally published in 1992
I started not to read Mary Called Magdalene . Simply because ancient biblical characters who are barely mentioned in the bible usually aren't portrayed very historically accurate or portrayed without some kind of religous agenda. I am glad I read it because again, it was an engrossing read, the author took me to biblical times, enriched what little knowledge I had of what commerce, industry, cities were like then. From the author's website: "Hallmarked by bestselling author Margaret George's dazzling mix of history and creativity, Mary, Called Magdalene is George's most ambitious work yet. Brilliantly grounded in both biblical and secular historical research, it depicts Mary of Magdala in the first hundred years of the first millennium-even as it peels away layers of legend. Testaments, letters, and narrative convincingly capture Mary's immediate and moving voice as she becomes part of the circle of disciples and comes to grips with the divine. "
Mary Called Magdalene was originally published in 2002
If you haven't read Margaret George's books you really are missing out on some excellent stories.Next up like I mentioned above is a book on the latter part of Elizabeth the First's reign.
From the website : "I am currently working on a novel about Elizabeth I in the latter part of her reign. Recently historians have been calling it almost a second reign, very different from the first reign, a sort of film noir version of the earlier one, with a whole new cast of characters and a fin de siecle feeling to it. I am enjoying exploring this idea, which has barely been hinted at in other books and movies. Those tend to focus on the Essex episode, but only as a romance and not as a symptom of something deeper.
And, of course, much of what we think of as "The Elizabethan Age" really did not get underway until near the end of her reign: the theatre, the colonies in the New World, and the brilliant writers---Shakespeare, Marlowe, Donne, Spenser, and Jonson. It certainly is a time that deserves its own special treatment."
But what I am REALLY excited about and eagerly anticipating is this from her Wikipedia page. "After the publication of her Elizabeth novel, George plans on writing a novel about Boudicca, highlighting Boudicca's conflict with Rome and Nero."
That will be an INCREDIBLE story to read when it's written by someone with the skill Margaret George has. It isn't mentioned on her website anywhere that I could see but I hope the wikipedia page is accurate. I want that book !!!!
These are the kind of keepers that I'd LOVE autographed first editions that I'd never let anyone touch. They could touch my reader copies, but not those!




