Dawnlands, page 53
You’ve written three books about these characters. Is there anything about them that still surprises you?
Oh yes! That’s part of the pleasure of writing the book. The events and how they respond to them surprise me. I know they’re going to happen, but the actual writing is always a discovery. I hadn’t planned how the real-life allegation of the baby in the warming pan would play out in the story, and I was surprised and delighted (as ever!) by the manipulative skills of Livia. I was amazed at the development of the deep tenderness in Ned, and by Johnnie’s mercenary nature. And I really didn’t know—till I was writing it—how the great love between James and Alinor would end. Her understanding of what went wrong between them seemed very surprising and important when it just came to me as I was writing.
Tidelands takes place in the midst of the English Civil War, and this book also is centered during a time of great political turmoil and unrest. What draws you to this time period—and in particular the republican leanings of characters like Ned, who want to build a country centered on liberty?
By instinct and education I am a democrat and someone who believes in a free and equal society, so the history of England during the seventeenth century, when people were thinking through ideas about equality and freedom, speaks very profoundly to me. It’s a time of great hope for those who went abroad to found new communities that they thought would be equal and free. Ironically, the colonialists became slavers and their new countries became oppressive in their turn. This is such a picture of a dream turned sour that of course it’s very interesting to both a historian and a novelist. How do we build a better world—when we take in our bags the old temptations of greed and snobbery?
Who is your favorite character to write in this series and why?
I genuinely can’t pick a top favorite. I love Ned for his principles and his compassion, and Rowan for her courage and humor. I have loved the character of Alinor through three books; I am sorry for James and the mistakes he makes. I can’t help but adore Livia, who is such a wicked woman but has self-knowledge and no hypocrisy. I feel that I understand Johnnie, whose desire for wealth comes from such a poor childhood, and I love the honest straightforward affection between Alys and her husband, Captain Shore. I’m very interested in Mia, Gabriella, and Hester—we’re going to see more of them with their friend and kinsman Matthew.
A major spoiler for anyone reading ahead! This novel contains the death of Alinor, the matriarch of the Reekie family, and the main character of Tidelands. What was it like for you to bring her story to a close?
It was certainly time! She nearly drowned at the end of book one. I felt very satisfied in bringing her back to the Tidelands in the house where she had been a servant. I felt that her story was complete, and at the final meeting with James she understood how he had failed her, and why. I liked that they were finally together, dying at the same time and—as his flowers for her funeral showed—that he knew they would be together in death.
You’re best known for your series of Plantagenet and Tudor novels, which draw back the historical curtain on court life. Why did you want to return to that (in this case the Stuart court) in this novel?
I am interested in the courts when they are places of historical events and change—also there are good records kept of courts, whereas for working people there are often no records at all. For these reasons, it’s interesting to base fiction at a court. In this case it’s a wonderful court—Mary of Modena is England’s Marie Antoinette! Struggling for her own personal happiness in a monarchy that is fighting for its own life. The details of her visit to Bath, the disastrous weakness of her husband, his overly confident mistress, and the queen’s escape at night over the river with her baby in a rowing boat are all on the historical record. It’s a quite extraordinary story and very little known—only the addition of Livia is fiction.
What are you working on next? Can you give us any hints?
I am currently working on a huge project: a history of the working women of England from 1066 to 1994. It’s nonfiction and tells of the ordinary lives of women from the Norman Invasion till the ordination of women in the Church of England recognized that women had souls and could be ministers of the church. It’s given me huge insights into times of change, which will help me in my writing when I return to historical fiction.
More from this Series
Tidelands
Book 1
Dark Tides
Book 2
More from the Author
The Last Tudor
Three Sisters, Three…
The Taming of the Queen
The King's Curse
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PHILIPPA GREGORY is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Many of her works have been adapted for the screen, including The Other Boleyn Girl. She graduated from the University of Sussex and received a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex, is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff, and was awarded the 2016 Harrogate Festival Award for Contribution to Historical Fiction. She is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. She was awarded a CBE title for services to literature and charity in 2022. She welcomes visitors to her website, PhilippaGregory.com.
SimonandSchuster.com
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Philippa-Gregory
@AtriaBooks
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
History
The Women of the Cousins’
War: The Duchess, the Queen and the King’s Mother
The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels
The Lady of the Rivers
The White Queen
The Red Queen
The Kingmaker’s Daughter
The White Princess
The Constant Princess
The King’s Curse
Three Sisters, Three Queens
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Boleyn Inheritance
The Taming of the Queen
The Queen’s Fool
The Virgin’s Lover
The Last Tudor
The Other Queen
Order of Darkness Series
Changeling
Stormbringers
Fools’ Gold
Dark Tracks
The Wideacre Trilogy
Wideacre
The Favored Child
Meridon
The Tradescants
Earthly Joys
Virgin Earth
Modern Novels
Alice Hartley’s Happiness
Perfectly Correct
The Little House
Zelda’s Cut
Short Stories
Bread and Chocolate
Other Historical Novels
The Wise Woman
Fallen Skies
A Respectable Trade
The Fairmile Series
Tidelands
Dark Tides
Children’s Books
The Princess Rules
It’s a Prince Thing
The Mammoth Adventure
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