Elizabeth Chadwick (born 1957) is an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

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 ...

. She is a member of Regia Anglorum, a medieval reenactment organisation.

Biography

Elizabeth Chadwick was born in

Bury, Lancashire Bury (, ) is a market town on the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. which had a population of 81,101 in 2021 while the wider borough had a population of 193,846. The town was originally part of the ...

in 1957. She moved with her family to Scotland when she was four years old and spent her childhood in the village of

Newton Mearns Newton Mearns ( ) is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the A77 road, main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a population of approximately 26,993, stre ...

near Glasgow. She came to Nottingham when she was ten and has lived there ever since. She has told herself stories all of her life, but didn't actually write anything down until she was fifteen. Her first foray into historical fiction, a novel about the Holy Land in the twelfth century, led her to the realisation that she wanted to write historical fiction for a living. In 1989, after years of writing and rejections during which her works won some competitions, a literary agent became interested in ''The Wild Hunt'', one of her books. The book was auctioned to Michael Joseph, part of

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media company, media Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a Mergers and acquisitions, mer ...

. A year later the book won a Betty Trask Award, which was presented to the author at Whitehall by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. Elizabeth Chadwick has gone on to become one of Britain's foremost historical novelists and has been called by the

Historical Novel Society The Historical Novel Society (HNS) is a nonprofit international literary society devoted to promotion of and advocacy for the genre of historical fiction. Definition of historical fiction There are varying definitions as to what types of literat ...

"the best writer of medieval fiction currently around". She is published internationally, and her work has been translated into 16 languages. Chadwick is renowned for her extensive research into the medieval period and particularly so in the area of the Marshal and Bigod families. Her novels about the thirteenth-century magnate

William Marshal William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman during High Medieval England who served five English kings: Henry ...

, ''The Greatest Knight'' (2005) and ''The Scarlet Lion'' (2006), have brought her international acclaim.

Works

Wild Hunt series

# ''The Wild Hunt'' (1990) # ''The Running Vixen'' (1991) # ''The Leopard Unleashed'' (1993) # ''The Coming of the Wolf'' (2020)

The Fitzwarin novels

# ''Shadows And Strongholds'' (2004) # ''Lords of the White Castle'' (2000)

William Marshal William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman during High Medieval England who served five English kings: Henry ...
novels

# ''The Greatest Knight'' (2005) # ''The Scarlet Lion'' (2006) # ''A Place Beyond Courage'' (2007) # ''For the King's Favor'' (2008) # ''To Defy a King'' (2010) # ''Templar Silks'' (2019) # ''The Irish Princess'' (2019)

The Bigod novels

# ''The Time of Singing'' (2008) (published as ''For the King's Favor'' in the U.S.) # ''To Defy A King'' (2010) - book about

's eldest daughter, Maud Marshal (1192 - 1248)

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...
series

# ''The Summer Queen'' (2013) # ''The Winter Crown'' (2014) # ''The Autumn Throne'' (2016)

Largely standalone novels

* ''Children of Destiny'' (1994) – since retitled ''Daughters of the Grail'' * ''Shields of Pride'' (1994) * ''First Knight'' (1996) * ''The Conquest'' (1996) * ''The Champion'' (1997) * ''The Love Knot'' (1998) * ''The Marsh King's Daughter'' (1999) * ''The Winter Mantle'' (2002) * ''The Falcons of Montabard'' (2003) – connected with Winter Mantle * ''A Place Beyond Courage'' (2007) – novel about William Marshal's father * ''Lady of the English'' (2011) – about

Adeliza of Louvain Adeliza of Louvain (also Adelicia, Adela, Adelais, and Aleidis; c. 1103 – March/April 1151) was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135 as the second wife of King Henry I. Adeliza was the eldest child of Godfrey I, Count of Louvain, and Ida ...

and Maude of England * ''The Irish Princess'' (2019)

Awards

* Betty Trask Award 1990 for ''The Wild Hunt''

Nominations

For the Romantic Novelists Award: * 1998 – ''The Champion'' * 2001 – ''The Lords of the White Castle'' * 2002 – ''The Winter Mantle'' * 2003 – ''The Falcons of Montabard'' * ''The Scarlet Lion'' was nominated by Richard Lee, founder of the Historical Novel Society, as one of the top ten historical novels of the last decade.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chadwick, Elizabeth Living people Writers from Bury, Greater Manchester Writers from Nottingham 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English women historical novelists English romantic fiction writers English women novelists British women romantic fiction writers Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Writers of historical romances 21st-century English women writers 20th-century English women writers British women historical novelists 1957 births