Virginia Henley (née Virginia Syddall; born 5 December 1935 in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, England), is a British-Canadian writer of

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

s. She is well known for her

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and other period piece romance novels.

Biography

Virginia Syddall was born on 5 December 1935 in

, England. Her mother, Lillian Syddall, taught her to love history. Virginia married Arthur Henley in 1956 and remained together until he died in 2013. They had two sons, Sean and Adam; four grandchildren, Daryl, Michael, Tara and Ryan; and three great grandchildren, Aireanna, Elizabeth & Faelynn. The marriage took place in

Grimsby, Ontario Grimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is at the eastern end of the Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, Census Met ...

, where she was a housewife, who read ''The Wolf and the Dove'' by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, and decided to start to write. She sold her first novel ''The Irish Gypsy'' in 1982 to Avon Books. She became a friend of other prominent writers such as Kathleen E. Woodiwiss,

Bertrice Small Bertrice Small (December 9, 1937 – February 24, 2015) was an American ''New York Times''- bestselling writer of historical and erotic romance novels. Bertrice lived on Long Island, New York, with her husband George Small. She was a member o ...

Heather Graham Pozzessere Heather Graham Pozzessere (born March 15, 1953) is an American writer, who writes primarily romance novels. She also writes under her maiden name Heather Graham as well as the pen name Shannon Drake. She has written over 150 novels and novellas ...

, Kat Martin, Christina Skye, Marsha Canham and Susan Johnson. Now retired, she lives in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Writing career

Virginia Henley is the author of thirty historical novels, including ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''Seduced'' and ''Desired'', and three novellas. Her work has been translated into fourteen languages.

Style

Virginia Henley's novels are not typical 'bodice rippers' - attention is paid to details such as historical events, which are integrated seamlessly into an otherwise fictional story. This attention to historical details is a hallmark of her novels. From the practices and traditions of the day, to the trends in fashion and down to the lives of prominent families in history - Henley combines them to create a rich background for her characters. Apart from the male and female protagonists, Henley's romance novels also contain colorful supporting characters, each with their own adventures and romances which at times even rival those of the main protagonists. Henley has won several awards for her work - including the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award, Waldenbooks' Bestselling Award, Maggie Award for Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers. She is also regularly praised and given rave reviews by Affaire de Coeur, Heartland Critiques, Rendezvous and

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

Publishing houses

Virginia Henley first published her books under Dell Publishing. From the 1980s to 1992, all her novels were published by Dell. In 1993, Island Books, a division of Dell Books, began publishing her works. There are marked differences between Henley's books published by Dell and those published by Island Books. The novels published by Dell had illustrated cover pages, with a plot synopsis on the back cover. The books published by Island had only her name and the novel's title over a background image of a particular flower with the illustration appearing on the second page.

Bibliography

Single novels

* ''The Irish Gypsy'' (1982) = ''Enticed'' (1994) * ''Bold Conquest'' (1983) * ''Wild Hearts'' (1985) * ''The Raven and the Rose'' (1987) * ''The Hawk and the Dove'' (1988) * ''The Pirate and the Pagan'' (1990) * ''Seduced'' (1994) * ''Desired'' (1995) * ''Enslaved'' (1995) * ''Dream Lover'' (1997) * ''A Woman of Passion'' (1998) Based on the life of

Bess of Hardwick Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made marri ...

* ''Ravished'' (2002) * ''Undone'' (2003) * ''Insatiable'' (2004) * ''Unmasked'' (2005)

Medieval Plantagenet Trilogy

# ''The Falcon and the Flower'' (1989) # ''The Dragon and the Jewel'' (1991) # ''The Marriage Prize'' (2000)

Clan Kennedy Saga

# ''Tempted'' (1992) # ''The Border Hostage'' (2001)

De Warenne Family Saga

# ''A Year and A Day'' (1998) # ''Infamous'' (2006) # ''Notorious'' (2007)

The Peer of the Realm Saga

# ''The Decadent Duke'' (2008) # ''The Irish Duke'' (2010) # ''The Dark Earl'' (2011)

Omnibus in Collaborations

* "''Christmas Eve''" in ''A Gift of Joy'' (1995) (with Jo Goodman, Brenda Joyce and Fern Michaels) * "''Letter of love''" in ''Love's Legacy'' (1996) (with Madeline Baker, Mary Balogh, Elaine Barbieri,

Lori Copeland Lori Copeland (born June 12, 1941) is an American author of over 95 novels. Career Lori Copeland's first book was published in 1982. She wrote romance novels until 1995, when she began writing Christian fiction. She has co-authored Christian ro ...

Cassie Edwards Cassie Edwards is an American author of over 100 historical romance novels published between 1982 and 2009. She has been published by Dorchester Publishing, Signet Books, Kensington Publishing and Harlequin. Edwards stopped publishing after it w ...

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...

, Catherine Hart, Penelope Neri, Diana Palmer and

Janelle Taylor Janelle Taylor (born June 28, 1944, in Athens, Georgia) is an American author of historical romance novels. Biography Janelle Diane Williams was born June 28, 1944, in Athens, Georgia. She graduated from Athens High School in 1962, and spent t ...

) * "''Love and joy''" in ''A Christmas Miracle'' (1996) (with Katherine Kingsley, Stephanie Mittman and Rebecca Paisley) * "''Christmas Eve''" in ''Let It Snow'' (2003) (with Holly Chamberlin, Marcia Evanick and Fern Michaels) * "''Christmas Eve''" in ''Deck the Halls'' (2004) (with Marcia Evanick, Lisa Jackson, Fern Michaels and

Linda Lael Miller Linda Lael Miller (born 1949 as Linda Lael), is a best-selling American author of more than 100 contemporary and historical romance novels. She has also written under the pen name Lael St. James. Personal life Linda Lael was born in 1949 in Wa ...

) * "''Smuggler's Lair''" in ''Lords of Desire'' (2009) (with Kristi Astor, Victoria Dahl and Sally MacKenzie) * "''Beauty and the Brute''" in ''Lords of Passion'' (2010) (with Kate Pearce, and Maggie Robinson)

Kindle e-books from Amazon

* "''Master of Paradise''" (2011) * "''Hot as Fire''" (2011) hristmas Eve renamed* "''A Rough Wooing''" (2012) * "''Scandal by the Ton''" (2013)

Awards

* 1988 Winner of the Romantic Times Award for Best Elizabethan Historical Romance by ''The Hawk and the Dove'' * 1989 Winner of the Romantic Times Award for Most Sensual by ''The Falcon and the Flower'' * 1990 Winner of the Romantic Times Award for Best English Historical Romance by ''The Pirate and the Pagan'' * Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award * Waldenbooks' Bestselling Award * Affaire de Coeur * Heartland Critiques * Maggie Award for Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers * Rendezvous Award * ''

'' Award

References or sources

Virginia Henley's official website

External links

Virginia Henley's webpage
in Fantastic Fiction website

in Internet Book List website {{DEFAULTSORT:Henley, Virginia English romantic fiction writers 1935 births Living people English women novelists Writers from Bolton Women romantic fiction writers English historical novelists British women historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English novelists