Philippa Gregory

If you have been following my Facebook page, you know that I am a fan of Philippa Gregory. I have not read all of her books yet. That is on my list to do when I am finished with my degree (only 3 more classes but who is counting!).

Last night I was able to attend a sold out event held by Topping & Company in Ely where Philippa Gregory talked about her new book, The King's Curse, which is about the curse placed on Henry VIII and his failure to produce a male heir. Philippa is a historian that brings it to life. So I was so excited to meet her and get her to sign a copy for myself and one of my sisters-in-law for Christmas. Don't worry she doesn't read my blog.

I was thinking last night and I think that it was a mix of Philippa's books and living in England that got me interested in history. I have always been an avid reader, well not so much since I started school again, but I just cannot get enough of a good story or finding out something new. I have a dresser full of books that I will start to read at the end of November and I can't wait.

The first book that I read of Philippa's was The Other Boleyn Girl, which was later made into the film which was also filmed in Ely Cathedral. It is the story of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, from the perspective of Mary Boleyn, her older sister and the king's mistress. What I loved so much about this book and all of the other ones I have read was that Philippa takes the historical facts that we know and fills it in with how things happened in a believable story. So you are learning about the events but feel like you know these historical people personally.

Reading her books have made me such an expert on Henry VIII at pub quiz it is my area of expertise.

I think that lead me to love England and its history so much that I wanted to do a degree in history and hopefully will improve my blog. I promise to pay it more attention after it is all said and done, I have a lot of ideas that I am writing down.

If you find history books boring but want to still learn about it, I definitely recommend reading her books, she make history delicious!