Today I have the pleasure of welcome my friend – and fellow 17th-century buff – Anna Belfrage to The Seventeenth Century Lady. Anna has written several wonderful historical novels, and I’m sure you’ll love her guest post. _______________ Falling in Love with Mr Unknown – How One Painting Inspired a Whole Series It’s all the fault of the… Read on
Last Friday, I travelled to Greenwich’s gorgeous Old Royal Naval College (designed by Mr Baroquetastic Sir Christopher Wren) for the Royal Greenwich Early Music Festival & Exhibition 2014. It was amazing! The festival took place from the 13th-15th of November and was filled with events and the exhibition comprised the ‘World’s Largest Early Music Fair’. The Early Music Shop –… Read on
Last Monday night, I attended Elizabeth Chadwick’s talk at the Guildhall here in Windsor. I was lucky as I booked only the night before and I was surprised there were any tickets left. Elizabeth Chadwick is a very popular and successful historical fiction author, whose books have been translated into numerous languages. I’m very pleased to be connected… Read on
Yesterday evening, following a good old research session at the National Archives at Kew, I attended a lecture at the Royal College of Physicians in London. The lecture, entitled, ‘Losing sight of Glory’: Six centuries of battlefield surgery,’ and given by Michael Crumplin, was superb. Before the lecture began, however, we were all able to view the Prujean Chest,… Read on
ITV’s drama, The Great Fire, aired last night at 9pm in the UK. This morning, I was asked by many on Twitter for my opinions about this show, but as I don’t have access to live television in my house, I was unable to watch it last night. I saw this episode just now on the iTV player and,… Read on
Please welcome award-winning novelist Piers Alexander to The Seventeenth Century Lady! Dura lex sed lex: The law is harsh, but it is the law. For Huguenots in the 1600s, royal edicts were instruments of hope and despair, both in France and in England. Slaughtered for their faith in the sixteenth century (the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572… Read on
The Darling of Kings is a brilliant historical novel which charts the meteoric rise and fall of one of the most legendary personages in British history. I was intrigued and excited when I was offered the chance to read this novel about George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and his relationships, first with King James I and then King Charles I. The Duke of Buckingham has been a source… Read on
This is the short story I recently submitted to the Historical Novel Society Conference on Saturday 6th September. The conference was really interesting and it was fun to meet up with fellow writers and great to learn from the most successful in our genre. There’s always so much to learn, and I was grateful to be able to… Read on