Filippa Gregori

Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya, but two years after her birth her family moved to England. The future writer entered the University of Sussex and then continued her education at the University of Edinburgh, where she received a doctorate in eighteenth-century literature. She later taught at several British universities, including the Open University, and in 1994 she was appointed a member of the council of Kingston University.

She earned her first literary fees by beginning to write books for children, but she became truly famous only thanks to a series of historical novels centered on the brilliant court of English kings and queens. Philippa Gregory gained worldwide recognition with her very first novel, Wideacre, published in 1987 and becoming the first part of the eponymous trilogy about the lives of several generations of the Lacey family.

At present she lives with her husband and children on a farm near Stokesley, in North Yorkshire. Her interests include horse riding and walking; she also enjoys skiing and gardening. She devotes her free time to charity work.