Philippa Gregory Interview (Guardian Article)

angeliz2k

never mind the shorty
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
3,727
Reaction score
488
Location
Commonwealth of Virginia--it's for lovers
Website
www.elizabethhuhn.com
Yeah, not my favorite writer, but no one can deny that she's on to something. And, hey, some people might get interested in history through her writing. So good on her for all that.

[By the way, I don't think it's much of a secret; she's taking what's essentially pretty titillating material--kings! queens! sex! intrigue!--and making it nicely digestible for people who I'm not sure had any idea what a soap opera history really is/was!]
 

Tocotin

deceives
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
2,250
Reaction score
1,895
Location
Tokyo, waiting for typhoons
Interesting article, thanks.

I enjoyed a few of Gregory's novels (The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool, mostly), but I didn't get any particularly feminist vibes from them. Books about women and by women aren't necessarily feminist.

And I'm not sure I understand the title of the interview... "Forgotten women", as in "people forgotten because they were women", right? Gregory writes mostly about royal or noble women, and there is a lot of material about them after all.
 

mayqueen

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Messages
4,624
Reaction score
1,547
I think an interesting point got raised in the comments, that Gregory feminizes history but doesn't write feminist history. Like Tocotin, I don't get a feminist vibe from her books. I just finished The White Queen, and I was surprised to see a comment in the interview with the author at the end of the book about how she's so interested in the fact that strong women were called witches. TWQ almost exclusively uses witchcraft or vague supernatural stuff to explain Elizabeth Woodville's power. I feel like there's a difference between exploring the idea that women's knowledge (healing, midwifery, etc) got labeled "magic" and the idea that it was magic, if that makes sense. So, in that sense, I feel like it's feminized history more than feminist history.
 

SpinningWheel

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
767
Reaction score
49
Location
Yorkshire, England
I think an interesting point got raised in the comments, that Gregory feminizes history but doesn't write feminist history. Like Tocotin, I don't get a feminist vibe from her books. I just finished The White Queen, and I was surprised to see a comment in the interview with the author at the end of the book about how she's so interested in the fact that strong women were called witches. TWQ almost exclusively uses witchcraft or vague supernatural stuff to explain Elizabeth Woodville's power. I feel like there's a difference between exploring the idea that women's knowledge (healing, midwifery, etc) got labeled "magic" and the idea that it was magic, if that makes sense. So, in that sense, I feel like it's feminized history more than feminist history.

Spot on, Mayqueen.

I find there is an odd disconnect between what PG does and what she says about her work.
It's like the way she makes such a big deal about how accurate she is whilst at the same time always going for the most sensationalist version even when it's not the most likely. I don't have a problem with her making those choices in her fiction (unlike many Anne Boleyn supporters who are very angry about her suggesting Anne committed adultery), but it's weird how on the one hand she's so skilled and on the other she's so lacking in self-knowledge.
 

Sunflowerrei

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
1,438
Reaction score
86
Location
Queens, New York
Website
www.michelleathy.com
That was interesting. I devoured The Other Boleyn Girl when I was in high school, but I haven't read any of her books since The White Queen. I think of her books the way I thought of The Tudors TV show: it's fun, I enjoyed it, it's history-lite and there's nothing wrong with that.
 

Yorkist

Banned
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
1,974
Reaction score
572
Location
Navigating through the thorns.
I've made my way through pretty much the entire Gregory catalog, and while most of it I file away in the "tawdry guilty pleasure" pile, and I know that it is among the least accurate historical fiction I'll deign to read, I still maintain that The Constant Princess is one of the loveliest books on my shelf.

Thanks for posting!
 

angeliz2k

never mind the shorty
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
3,727
Reaction score
488
Location
Commonwealth of Virginia--it's for lovers
Website
www.elizabethhuhn.com
That was interesting. I devoured The Other Boleyn Girl when I was in high school, but I haven't read any of her books since The White Queen. I think of her books the way I thought of The Tudors TV show: it's fun, I enjoyed it, it's history-lite and there's nothing wrong with that.

Those were my feelings as well. The writing is indifferent, and I found her characterizations a bit shallow. I really, really wanted to like The Red Queen and the White Queen. I really did. But her constant harping on the river/witch thing kind of put me off. It seemed to be "mysterious" without being interesting. Just kind of . . . random. I felt it distanced me, the reader, instead of giving me more insight into the character.

And now I really, really want to like The White Princess, because the relationship between Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor is intriguing. Maybe Gregory will surprise me!

And it really is history-lite. She plucks out the sensational bits without plumbing the depths of motivation and character--and without getting much past the jewels! sex! intrigue! level.

It's just not my cuppa. It doesn't help that I've read beaucoup books on the Tudors/Yorks/Lancastrians and am played out on the novelty factor.
 

Sunflowerrei

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
1,438
Reaction score
86
Location
Queens, New York
Website
www.michelleathy.com
Those were my feelings as well. The writing is indifferent, and I found her characterizations a bit shallow. I really, really wanted to like The Red Queen and the White Queen. I really did. But her constant harping on the river/witch thing kind of put me off. It seemed to be "mysterious" without being interesting. Just kind of . . . random. I felt it distanced me, the reader, instead of giving me more insight into the character.

And now I really, really want to like The White Princess, because the relationship between Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor is intriguing. Maybe Gregory will surprise me!

I was interested in the idea of her writing about the War of the Roses, so I read The White Queen. But like you, the witch stuff struck me as unnecessarily supernatural for no reason. I liked The Constant Princess, though. I always wanted to think that Arthur and Catherine may have possibly had a nice relationship and the idea that Catherine may have lied, though highly unlikely, is an intriguing "what if?"

I might read The White Princess, for the reasons you said.
 

SpinningWheel

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
767
Reaction score
49
Location
Yorkshire, England
I couldn't finish The Constant Princess. Just too dull.

Norah Lofts' The King's Pleasure was a good Katharine of Aragon book.