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A captivating Tudor historical fiction novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author

About the Author

Philippa Gregory is an established writer and broadcaster for radio and television. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. She lives in the North of England with her family.

Reviews

Praise for 'The Wise Woman': 'Compulsively readable.' Andrea Newman, Sunday Express 'Gregory's principal feat in this elaborate novel is the irrefutable artistry with which she lends her prose a constant sense of history!Success results from the tense, almost shocking contrast between serious issues -- religious doctrine, political integrity, social dynamics -- and flights of erotic fancy.' Sunday Times

Praise for 'The Wise Woman': 'Compulsively readable.' Andrea Newman, Sunday Express 'Gregory's principal feat in this elaborate novel is the irrefutable artistry with which she lends her prose a constant sense of history!Success results from the tense, almost shocking contrast between serious issues -- religious doctrine, political integrity, social dynamics -- and flights of erotic fancy.' Sunday Times

This new novel by the author of Wideacre (S. & S., 1987) and other popular historical fiction profiles a woman versed in charms, conjuring, and fortune-telling who nonetheless falls into catastrophic misfortunes time after time. Escaping from an English convent, young Alys learns the arts of healing and magic from the ``wise woman'' who takes her in. Her struggle to find an independent life takes her among an array of characters, including a mediocre lover, a sickly old man still very much in control of the lives around him, and two challenging women: Marach and Mother Hildebrande. Gregory weaves a vivid tapestry of life in the 16th century, including plenty of sex, as the narrative strains toward a not-unexpected end.-- M.E. Chitty, Fairchild International Lib . Inst . , Plainfield, N.J.