British writer Gregory Philip: biography and creativity

In 2013, the ten-series TV series "White Queen" appeared on the screens. Most of those who enthusiastically followed his events, did not even suspect that he was shot on the basis of just three books by the famous British novelist Philippa Gregory. Meanwhile, the woman is the author of several dozen novels about the court life of England XVI-XVIII centuries. Her main heroines are mostly brave women, ready to challenge the whole world in the struggle for their ideals.

Gregory Philip: biography of the writer

Philip was the second daughter of an employee of the East African airline Arthur Gregory. The girl was born in January 1954 in the Kenyan city of Nairobi. However, later the whole family moved to English Bristol. It's funny, but while studying at school the future writer was best given geography and English, while in history she did not have very good grades.

After graduating from Philip's secondary school, Gregory studied journalism in Cardiff, followed by English literature in Sussex. After working for several years in the newspaper Portsmouth News, and later on the BBC radio, she received her doctorate in literature from the 18th century. And began to teach at famous British universities.

The beginning of the writer's career

With the writing of fairy tales for children began his literary career Gregory Philip. The books of this period are stories about pirates, a small hand dragon and a trilogy about the adventures of Princess Florizella. However, the first "adult" novel "Vaidekr", which she wrote when she was 33 years old, brought her real popularity. On the wave of success in the next three years she published two more books, which are a continuation of this work: "Blessed Child" and "Meridon."

The next her famous work was a novel about the love of a British aristocrat to a black slave - "Decent craft". In the same year she published three more stories of Gregory Philip: "The Witch", "Ideally True" and "Happiness Alice Hartley." The second half of the nineties was a rather fruitful stage in the writer's work (the "Land of Joy", the "Little House" and "Ruined Heaven" novels), but she failed to repeat the success of "Vaidekra" in those years.

But the beginning of the two thousandth anniversary marked a new and very successful period in the career of Philip Gregory. In 2001, the writer publishes her most famous work - "Another of the Boleyn family." This is a novel about the fate of the second wife of the English King Henry XVIII - Anne and her sister Mary. For this book, her author was awarded the Romantic Novelists' Association. And the American literary magazine AudioFile called Philip "the queen of the British historical novel." It was with the book "Another of the Boleyn family" that a series of works by a writer called "Tudors" began.

Gregory Philippe: The books of the cycle The Tudor Court

At the moment in this series are eight novels that have already been released, and one that is being prepared for publication in 2017. At the center of each cycle is one or more women who played an important role in British history. They all have different characters and goals. However, everyone dreams to find their own happiness and achieve prosperity for their children. In these works, the reader acquainted with the heroines who played an important role in the history of the United Kingdom, but undeservedly forgotten descendants, Gregory Philip.

Books (the sequence of their output does not correspond to the chronological order in which the events described in them occurred), the writers tell about the fate of Henry's wives, mistresses and daughters. In order not to get confused in the chronology of events, the novels of the series "Tudors" should be read in this order: "The Eternal Princess" (2005), "Three Sisters - Three Queens" (2016), "Another Boleyn Girl" (2001), "Legacy (2006), The Queen's Taming (2015), The Royal Cracker (2003), The Queen's Lover (2004) and The Other Queen (2008).

The Cousins' War

Since the books on the Tudors enjoyed tremendous popularity among readers, in 2009 Gregory Philip decided to write a new novel about the first English queen, who was crowned apart from her husband, Elizabeth Woodville. A new work by Philippi was called "The White Queen". It was the beginning of the cycle "War of Cousins". The events of this series covered the period from the beginning of the reign of Edward IV and until the ascension to the throne of his grandson Henry XVIII. Thus, the "War of Cousins" is a kind of prehistory of the "Tudors". Because of this, in 2016, both cycles were combined into a general series of The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels.

At the moment, I wrote six novels of the cycle "War of Cousins" by Gregory Philip. Books (the chronology of their output almost coincides with the historical sequence of the events described), this series should begin reading from the third novel - "The Mistress of the House of Rivers" (2011). Next comes the "White Queen" (2009) and the following books in her order: "The Scarlet Queen" (2010), "The Daughter of the Kings Doors" (2012), The White Princess (2013) and The Royal Curse (2014).

Other books of the writer

In addition to historical works, Philip Gregory is also the author of the fantastic trilogy "Order of Darkness". It includes books: "The Foundling" (2012), "Brings the Storm" (2013), "Gold of Fools" (2014). Unfortunately, these works have not reached the level of popularity of the "Tudors" and "Cousin Wars".

The screen version of the novels of Philippi Gregory

According to the plot of some of the writer's books films were shot. Thus, in 1998, based on the "Worthy Craft" motives, the same-length multi-series TV movie was shot. "Another of Boleyn's kind" was screened twice. In 2003, the BBC filmed a television film of the same name with Natasha Makelkhon in the title role, and in 2008, the screen came out with a film with the same title, where the main roles were played by Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. In 2010, based on the novel "Little House" was shot a television series with the same name. In the summer of 2013, the British series "The White Queen" appeared on the screens, and in 2017 they promised to remove its continuation under the name "The White Princess".

Philip Gregory is not just one of the most successful writers in the world, but also a worthy person. In addition to writing books, she actively participates in charity, and in her spare time she is engaged in gardening and horse riding. The writer is often mistakenly regarded as a relative of the British novelist Suzanne Gregory. Philippe, meanwhile, writes under his real name, while "Suzanne Gregory" is the pseudonym of the teacher from Cambridge Elizabeth Grave. Despite the fact that Philippe is more than 60 years old, she does not slow down and continues to delight readers with new and exciting novels every year.