Philippa Gregory, who has a Ph.D. in history from Edinburgh University, writes what she knows best: historical fiction about English royalty. Her bestselling 2004 novel The Other Boleyn Girl, about Henry VIII and Mary and Anne Boleyn, was made into a popular film starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.

Gregory’s latest book is The White Queen, a novel about Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, mother of the famous princes in the tower, sister-in-law to Richard III. Those who like to read historical fiction with the emphasis on fiction might be interested in the following read-alikes.

The Other Queen presents a tale inspired by the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, in a work that follows the doomed monarch’s long imprisonment in the household of the Earl of Shrewsbury and his spying wife, Bess.

The Boleyn Inheritance Lady-in-waiting Jane Boleyn, the only survivor of the ambitious Boleyn family, testifies against Henry VIII’s latest queen, Anne of Cleves, and conspires to place her young cousin, Katherine Howard, on the throne.

The Constant Princess This fictional portrait of Henry VIII’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon, follows her through her youthful marriage to Henry’s older brother, Arthur, her widowhood, her marriage to Henry, and the divorce that led to Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Some other authors and novels you might like:

Elizabeth Chadwick is another award-winning British novelist. Her novel The Winter Mantle takes place in the wake of William the Conqueror’s triumph at Normandy, when one of his noblemen, an English earl, falls in love with William’s niece and a situation develops that forces the couple to choose between love and loyalty.

Margaret George is an American historian and novelist who has taken on such notables as Cleopatra and Mary Queen of Scots in her writings.

Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles won praise from the critics. Kirkus Reviews said, “With a seamless use of original letters, diaries, and poems: a popular, readable, inordinately moving tribute to a remarkable queen.”  It tells Mary’s tragic story beginning with the Catholic princess in 1542, only six days old, being crowned as the Queen of the Scots,and continues with her crowning as Queen of France and subsequent downfall.

The Autobiography of Henry VIII: with Notes by His Fool Will Summers The life and times of English monarch Henry VIII are revealed in a fictitious autobiographical memoir that is interspersed with the irreverent commentary ofhis court jester and confidant, Will Somers.

Julia Fox

Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford Provides a dramatic account of the turbulent and dangerous court of England’s King Henry VIII and his queens, as seen through the eyes of Jane Rochford, sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn and cousin to Katherine Howard, who served as a lady-in-waiting for five of the king’s wives, until she herself ran afoul of the king’s rage.

Suzannah Dunn writes novels of the age of Henry VIII.

The Queen’s Sorrow Trapped in a loveless marriage to Philip of Spain in spite of her triumphant coronation, a dutiful Mary Tudor finds her queenship challenged by religious dissidence, her inability to conceive a child, and uprisings among her subjects.

The Sixth Wife is a tale inspired by the Tudor court. After the death of King Henry VIII, the Duchess of Suffolk, the best friend of Henry’s widow Katherine Parr, reluctantly witnesses the former queen’s ill-advised romance with Thomas Seymour, who demonstrates a willingness to betray Parr for his own ambitions.

The Queen of Subtleties Lucy Cornwall is is confectioner to King Henry VIII. The only woman in a kitchen of two hundred men, she sculpts sugar into fantastic ‘subtleties’, for royal celebrations - Anne Boleyn - stunning, ambitious, headstrong - has changed the history of England. By taking Henry from his wife the new Queen has now made enemies of all but a favored few. Powerful forces are gathering to make her pay dearly for her prize. And now the innocent Lucy and her musician confidante Mark Smeaton are caught in the maelstrom that will claim her life - and could destroy their dreams.