Christopher Willis Gortner is an American author of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

, including the novels ''The Last Queen'', ''The Confessions of Catherine de Medici'', and the ''Spymaster Trilogy''. His novels are translated in over 25 languages. ''The Queen’s Vow'' was an international bestseller in Poland. ''Mademoiselle Chanel'' was a USA Today best-seller, an American Booksellers Association bestseller, and both ''The Last Queen'' and ''Marlene'' were Marin Independent Journal best-sellers. He was named one of the top ten historical novelists by The Washington Independent Review of Books and has delivered keynote speeches as a Guest of Honor at the Historical Novel Society Conferences in the United States and the United Kingdom. For ten years before he was published and became a full-time writer, he was a public health administrative analyst. Previously, he worked as a fashion executive.

Personal life

Gortner was raised in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and is half-Spanish by birth. His family moved back to the U.S. when he was in his teens. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco and

Masters of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admin ...

in Writing with a concentration in Renaissance Studies from the

New College of California New College of California was a college founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President John Leary. It ceased operations in early 2008. New College's main campus was housed in several buildings in the Mission ...

. He lives in Northern California.

Books

*''The Last Queen: A Novel'' Ballantine Books, , (2008), the history of

Joanna of Castile Joanna of Castile (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), historically known as Joanna the Mad (), was the nominal queen of Castile from 1504 and queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile ...

*''The Confessions of Catherine De Medici: A Novel'' Ballantine Books, , (2010), the history of

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

*''The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile'' Ballantine Books, , (2012), the history of

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

*''Mademoiselle Chanel: A Novel'' William Morrow and Company, , (2015), the history of

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and Businessperson, businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with populari ...

*''The Vatican Princess:'' ''A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia'' Ballantine Books, (2016), the history of

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

*''Marlene: A Novel of Marlene Dietrich '' William Morrow and Company (2016), the history of

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

*''The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna'' Ballantine Books (2018) the history of Maria Feodorovna * ''The First Actress. A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt'' Ballantine Books (2020), the history of

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

* ''The American Adventuresss: A Novel'', William Morrow/

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

(2022), the history of Jennie Jerome Churchill The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles * ''The Secret Lion'' Heliographica Press (2004) *: in 2011 released as ''The Tudor Secret'' with an additional scene''The Tudor Secret''
C.W. Gortner -- Official Author Website etrieved 2023-04-18/ref> (St. Martin's Press, ) *''The Tudor Conspiracy'' St. Martin's Press, , (2013) *''The Tudor Vendetta'' St. Martin's Press, (2014)

External links

* http://www.cwgortner.com/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gortner, Christopher Willis Living people American historical novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Writers from Málaga New College of California alumni Writers from California 21st-century American novelists