Philippa Gregory Books in Order: A Complete Guide to Her Historical Fiction
If you’re searching for Philippa Gregory books in order, the answer is a little more interesting than simply listing her novels by publication date. Gregory has written several interconnected historical-fiction series—including the Plantagenet and Tudor novels, Fairmile series, Wideacre trilogy, Order of Darkness, and Tradescant series—as well as standalone historical novels, modern fiction, short stories, and nonfiction. Her official reading-order guide recommends following the chronological order within each series, while noting that her novels can generally be read as standalones.
Philippa Gregory has built her reputation by bringing famous and forgotten women from British history into vivid fictional narratives. Her novels often place readers behind the walls of royal courts, into aristocratic households, and alongside women whose lives were shaped by power, marriage, religion, inheritance, war, ambition, and survival.
Her best-known work is probably The Other Boleyn Girl, but that novel is only one part of a much larger body of historical fiction. The author’s official website currently groups her books into the Fairmile series, Plantagenet and Tudor novels, Wideacre trilogy, Order of Darkness series, Tradescant series, other historical novels, modern novels, short stories, and children’s books.
One particularly useful thing to understand is that “chronological order” and “publication order” aren’t always the same for Gregory’s historical novels. Her official reading-order page specifically provides a chronological sequence for each series.
Philippa Gregory Books in Order by Series
The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels in Chronological Order
This is the series to choose if you’re most interested in Wars of the Roses, Tudor England, Henry VIII, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Mary Tudor, and the women surrounding the English monarchy.
Gregory’s official website currently lists 17 books in this sequence.
1. The Lady of the Rivers — 2011
Reading position: Plantagenet and Tudor #1
Historical period: 1416 onward
Key themes: Wars of the Roses, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Elizabeth Woodville, magic, royalty
Jacquetta of Luxembourg is at the center of this sweeping story, which follows her from a royal marriage and widowhood to her relationship with Richard Woodville and her daughter Elizabeth’s extraordinary rise. Gregory combines historical research with legend, particularly around Jacquetta’s reputation for mystical powers.
2. The White Queen — 2009
Reading position: #2
Historical period: 1460s–1480s
Key themes: Elizabeth Woodville, Edward IV, Wars of the Roses, royal power
Elizabeth Woodville’s unexpected marriage to Edward IV transforms her from a widowed commoner into an English queen. The novel presents the Wars of the Roses largely through Elizabeth’s perspective, making her ambition, family loyalty, and vulnerability central to the story.
3. The Red Queen — 2010
Reading position: #3
Historical period: Wars of the Roses
Key themes: Margaret Beaufort, Henry Tudor, religion, ambition
Margaret Beaufort is the determined woman behind the future Tudor dynasty in this novel. Deeply religious and fiercely ambitious, she spends years working toward the political destiny she believes awaits her son Henry.
4. The Kingmaker’s Daughter — 2012
Reading position: #4
Historical period: 15th-century England
Key themes: Anne Neville, Richard III, Warwick the Kingmaker, political marriage
Anne Neville grows up as the daughter of the powerful Earl of Warwick, the “Kingmaker.” Her marriage places her directly inside the political struggles of the Wars of the Roses and eventually connects her to Richard III.
5. The White Princess — 2013
Reading position: #5
Historical period: Tudor accession
Key themes: Elizabeth of York, Henry VII, dynastic politics, marriage
Elizabeth of York becomes the bridge between the defeated Yorkist dynasty and Henry Tudor’s new Tudor monarchy. Her marriage is politically essential, but Gregory explores the private tensions behind a union designed to stabilize a kingdom.
6. The Constant Princess — 2005
Reading position: #6
Historical period: Early Tudor period
Key themes: Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII, Spain, royal marriage
Catherine of Aragon’s early life is reimagined as a story of determination, political intelligence, and survival. The novel follows the young Spanish princess before and during her marriage to the future Henry VIII.
7. The King’s Curse — 2014
Reading position: #7
Historical period: Henry VIII’s reign
Key themes: Margaret Pole, Tudor politics, Henry VIII, survival
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, finds herself dangerously close to the Tudor royal family while her Yorkist bloodline makes her increasingly vulnerable. Her story becomes one of survival as Henry VIII’s reign grows more unpredictable.
8. Three Sisters, Three Queens — 2016
Reading position: #8
Historical period: Tudor England
Key themes: Margaret Tudor, Catherine of Aragon, Mary Tudor, sisterhood
Three royal women—Margaret Tudor, Catherine of Aragon, and Mary Tudor—navigate marriages, dynastic politics, rivalry, and shifting alliances. Gregory has described this novel as showing Henry VIII through the eyes of his sister Margaret.
9. The Other Boleyn Girl — 2001
Reading position: #9
Historical period: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Key themes: Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn, Henry VIII, court intrigue
Mary Boleyn watches her sister Anne rise from courtier to queen while both women become entangled with Henry VIII. The novel is one of Gregory’s most famous works and helped establish her reputation for historical fiction centered on women whose stories were often overshadowed by famous kings.
10. Boleyn Traitor — 2025
Reading position: #10
Historical period: Tudor England
Key themes: Boleyn family, court politics, betrayal, Tudor power
Boleyn Traitor expands Gregory’s Tudor fiction with another perspective on the dangerous world surrounding the Boleyn family. It belongs in the later Tudor portion of the author’s chronological reading sequence.
11. The Boleyn Inheritance — 2006
Reading position: #11
Historical period: Henry VIII’s later reign
Key themes: Anne of Cleves, Jane Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII
Three women tell the story of Henry VIII’s increasingly dangerous court: Anne of Cleves, Jane Boleyn, and Catherine Howard. Their perspectives reveal how little security even a queen could have when royal favor could disappear overnight.
12. The Taming of the Queen — 2015
Reading position: #12
Historical period: Henry VIII’s final marriage
Key themes: Katherine Parr, Henry VIII, religion, survival
Katherine Parr becomes Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife. Intelligent and deeply interested in religious reform, she must balance her intellectual ambitions with the terrifying reality of being married to an increasingly unpredictable king.
13. The Queen’s Fool — 2003
Reading position: #13
Historical period: Mary I and Elizabeth I
Key themes: Mary I, Elizabeth I, religion, persecution
Hannah Verde is a young woman with a gift for languages and performance who becomes involved with the Tudor court. Her position gives her an unusual view of the conflict between Catholic Mary I and Protestant Elizabeth.
14. The Virgin’s Lover — 2004
Reading position: #14
Historical period: Elizabeth I’s early reign
Key themes: Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, romance, political danger
Elizabeth I’s relationship with Robert Dudley creates both emotional intensity and political risk. Gregory explores the tension between Elizabeth’s private desires and the demands placed on England’s unmarried queen.
15. The Last Tudor — 2017
Reading position: #15
Historical period: Tudor succession
Key themes: Jane Grey, Katherine Grey, Mary Grey, succession
The lives of three Grey sisters unfold against the dangerous succession politics of Tudor England. Their royal blood makes them potential heirs—and therefore potential threats to the reigning monarch.
16. The Other Queen — 2008
Reading position: #16
Historical period: Mary, Queen of Scots
Key themes: Mary Stuart, imprisonment, Elizabeth I, political intrigue
Mary, Queen of Scots, is held in England while her future and political significance remain uncertain. The novel examines her captivity through the people responsible for watching her and the queen herself.
17. Royal Witch — 2026
Reading position: Latest Plantagenet/Tudor novel
Historical period: 1420 onward
Key themes: Eleanor Cobham, witchcraft, ambition, Henry V, Henry VI
Gregory’s newest historical novel travels back before many of her better-known Tudor stories. Royal Witch follows Eleanor Cobham, who rises from relatively modest origins to become Duchess of Gloucester before being accused of witchcraft and plotting against King Henry VI. The author says she had wanted to tell Eleanor’s story for years.
Important: Because Royal Witch was released in 2026, it should be included in a current Philippa Gregory books-in-order article rather than relying on older reading-order lists.
The Fairmile Series in Order
The Fairmile series moves away from Tudor England and into the 17th-century world of the English Civil War and its aftermath.
Gregory’s official site lists three novels in the series.
1. Tidelands — 2019
Reading position: Fairmile #1
Historical period: 1648
Key themes: English Civil War, Alinor, superstition, survival
Alinor, a healer and midwife living on the Sussex coast, tries to protect her family during a turbulent period of English history. Her knowledge, independence, and unusual abilities make her both valuable and vulnerable.
2. Dark Tides — 2020
Reading position: Fairmile #2
Key themes: Family, colonial America, ambition, survival
The Fairmile family story expands across England and the wider Atlantic world, following characters whose lives are shaped by family secrets, social expectations, and the opportunities and dangers of a changing world.
3. Dawnlands — 2022
Reading position: Fairmile #3
Key themes: Restoration England, inheritance, family secrets, political change
The Fairmile story continues into Restoration England, where questions of inheritance, identity, family loyalty, and political power affect the next generation.
The Wideacre Trilogy in Order
The Wideacre trilogy was particularly important in Gregory’s career because Wideacre was her first published novel. Gregory herself notes that she published it in 1987.
1. Wideacre — 1987
Reading position: Wideacre #1
Key themes: Land, inheritance, obsession, sexuality, power
Beatrice Lacey is determined to preserve her family’s estate at almost any cost. Her obsession with Wideacre drives the novel into increasingly dark territory as inheritance, desire, family, and land become inseparable.
2. The Favoured Child — 1989
Reading position: Wideacre #2
Key themes: Family legacy, inheritance, identity, superstition
The next generation inherits both the estate and the consequences of what happened before. Family secrets and competing claims to Wideacre continue to shape the lives of its inhabitants.
3. Meridon — 1990
Reading position: Wideacre #3
Key themes: Survival, independence, class, inheritance
The trilogy concludes with Meridon, whose difficult journey brings the Wideacre story toward its final confrontation with family history, social class, and the powerful pull of the estate.
The Order of Darkness Series in Order
This series is aimed more toward young adult readers, combining medieval history with mystery, adventure, superstition, religion, and the possibility of supernatural forces.
Gregory’s official site describes the story as beginning in 1460, with fictional characters traveling through a historically authentic medieval world.
1. Changeling — 2012
Reading position: Order of Darkness #1
Key themes: Medieval Europe, religion, superstition, mystery
Luca Vero is expelled from his monastery and recruited to investigate strange events that may signal the end of the world. His journey introduces him to Isolde and Freize and begins an adventure across medieval Europe.
2. Stormbringers — 2013
Reading position: #2
Key themes: Venice, religion, mystery, adventure
Luca and his companions continue their journey and encounter new mysteries as they travel through a Europe where faith, superstition, politics, and fear frequently overlap.
3. Fools’ Gold — 2014
Reading position: #3
Key themes: Venice, wealth, deception, religion
The adventure reaches Venice, where wealth and political intrigue provide a new backdrop for Luca and his companions. Gregory combines historical detail with the fast-moving adventure of a young-adult mystery.
4. Dark Tracks — 2018
Reading position: #4
Key themes: Medieval Europe, mystery, danger, friendship
The final listed novel continues Luca and his companions’ journey through a dangerous medieval landscape filled with secrets, political tensions, and threats.
The official website also confirms that the first three books were later collected as Order of Darkness Volumes I–III.
The Tradescant Series in Order
The Tradescant novels move into 17th-century England, following the fictionalized lives and adventures surrounding the historical Tradescant family.
1. Earthly Joys — 1998
Reading position: Tradescant #1
Key themes: Exploration, gardens, England, ambition, 17th century
John Tradescant the Elder travels through a changing world of gardens, collections, exploration, and royal patronage. The novel blends historical biography with Gregory’s characteristic focus on ambition and personal relationships.
2. Virgin Earth — 2007
Reading position: Tradescant #2
Key themes: Gardens, monarchy, Restoration, family legacy
The story continues with John Tradescant the Younger as England moves through political upheaval and Restoration. His passion for plants and collecting is intertwined with the legacy left by his father.
Gregory’s official reading-order page places these two novels together as the Tradescant series.
Other Historical Novels by Philippa Gregory
Not every Gregory historical novel belongs to a multi-book series.
Her official bibliography currently groups three titles under Other Historical Novels.
The Wise Woman — 1992
Set during the English Reformation, this novel follows a young woman whose knowledge of herbs, healing, and traditional practices places her in danger as religious and political changes transform English society.
A Respectable Trade — 1995
Gregory examines the brutal reality of the slave trade through the story of people whose lives become entangled with Bristol’s involvement in the Atlantic slave economy.
Fallen Skies — 1994
Set in the aftermath of World War I, this novel explores love, trauma, social expectations, and the difficulty of rebuilding a life after the devastation of war.
Philippa Gregory’s Modern Novels
Gregory has also written contemporary fiction, which is quite different from the historical novels for which she is best known.
Her official bibliography lists four modern novels.
1. Alice Hartley’s Happiness — 1992
A contemporary story centered on relationships, identity, and the search for personal happiness.
2. Perfectly Correct — 1996
A modern novel exploring personal relationships and the complications that arise when people try to maintain the lives they believe they should have.
3. The Little House — 1998
A psychological domestic story examining family relationships, social expectations, and the unsettling consequences of becoming too closely involved in another family’s life.
4. Zelda’s Cut — 2001
A contemporary novel involving ambition, relationships, and the complicated boundaries between public success and private life.
Philippa Gregory’s Nonfiction and History Books
Gregory is not only a historical novelist. She has also written nonfiction based on historical research.
The Women of the Cousins’ War — 2011
Gregory collaborated with historians David Baldwin and Michael Jones on this collection examining Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Elizabeth Woodville, and Margaret Beaufort. Gregory’s official website describes it as her first published history book and notes that the essays grew from research connected to her historical fiction.
Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History — 2023
This ambitious work reframes English history around ordinary women rather than focusing primarily on monarchs and famous queens. Gregory examines women’s roles across nine centuries, including work, war, trade, religion, protest, crime, family life, and social change.
The book is particularly relevant to readers who enjoy Gregory’s novels because it shows the historical research and broader perspective behind her interest in women’s lives.
What Is the Best Philippa Gregory Series to Start With?
Start with the Plantagenet and Tudor novels
If you’re interested in Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth Woodville, the Wars of the Roses, or Tudor queens, this is the obvious starting point.
However, you don’t have to begin with The Other Boleyn Girl. The author’s chronological reading order begins with The Lady of the Rivers.
Start with the Fairmile series for 17th-century historical fiction
Choose Tidelands if you want something later than the Tudor period, with family, social change, superstition, war, and women’s survival at the center.
Start with Wideacre for Gregory’s earliest work
If you’re interested in seeing how Gregory’s career began, Wideacre is the place to go. Gregory identifies it as her first published novel, released in 1987.
Start with The Order of Darkness for YA historical adventure
Changeling is the best entry point for younger readers or anyone who wants a combination of medieval mystery, adventure, friendship, religion, and superstition.
Do Philippa Gregory Books Need to Be Read in Order?
Not always.
Gregory’s official website specifically says that her novels can be read as standalone books. However, readers who want to experience the historical timeline and recurring dynasties in sequence can follow her chronological reading order.
For a series such as Wideacre, Fairmile, Order of Darkness, and Tradescant, reading in order makes the most sense because the books follow connected characters or families.
The Plantagenet and Tudor novels are more unusual. They aren’t one conventional continuous story with one protagonist. Instead, different novels focus on different historical figures whose lives overlap. Reading chronologically gives you a fascinating progression through English history, but you can also begin with a particular period or character that interests you most.
Are Philippa Gregory’s Books Historically Accurate?
Gregory’s novels are historical fiction, not academic histories.
She conducts extensive historical research and uses real people, events, political circumstances, and locations, but she necessarily fills gaps in the historical record with fictionalized dialogue, motivations, relationships, and scenes.
That distinction matters especially when reading books about figures such as Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, Catherine of Aragon, and Mary, Queen of Scots.
Gregory herself distinguishes between the authentic historical circumstances and invented characters in Order of Darkness, for example, explaining that the series uses historically authentic circumstances while its central characters and adventures are fictional.
About Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is a British historian, novelist, and nonfiction writer particularly known for historical fiction about women, royal courts, dynastic politics, and periods of major social change.
She studied history at the University of Sussex and earned a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is also an alumna and Regent. Her official biography highlights her academic background as an important part of her approach to historical fiction.
Her breakthrough came with Wideacre, published in 1987. She later became internationally recognized for The Other Boleyn Girl, which brought the Tudor court and the Boleyn sisters to a huge contemporary readership.
What distinguishes Gregory’s historical fiction is her repeated decision to move the narrative away from kings and toward the women around them. That approach is particularly visible in her Plantagenet and Tudor novels, where women such as Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Catherine of Aragon, and Katherine Parr become the primary lenses through which major historical events are experienced.
Her nonfiction project Normal Women makes that interest even more explicit by attempting to place the experiences and contributions of ordinary women at the center of 900 years of English history.
Frequently Asked Questions About Philippa Gregory Books
What is the first Philippa Gregory book to read?
There isn’t one mandatory starting point because Gregory writes several independent series. If you want her Plantagenet and Tudor novels in chronological order, begin with The Lady of the Rivers; if you want her earliest novel, begin with Wideacre; and if you want her Fairmile series, start with Tidelands.
What order should I read Philippa Gregory’s Tudor books?
For the chronological Plantagenet and Tudor sequence, start with The Lady of the Rivers, followed by The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Kingmaker’s Daughter, The White Princess, and continue through the Tudor novels to Royal Witch. Gregory’s official reading-order guide provides the chronological sequence, while her current bibliography includes Royal Witch, released in 2026.
Is The Other Boleyn Girl the first book in the Philippa Gregory series?
No. The Other Boleyn Girl is one of Gregory’s Plantagenet and Tudor novels, but it is not the first chronological book in that sequence. Gregory’s official reading order places The Lady of the Rivers, The White Queen, The Red Queen, and several other novels before it.
What is the order of the Wideacre trilogy?
The correct order is Wideacre, The Favoured Child, and Meridon. Wideacre was Gregory’s first published novel, appearing in 1987, and the three books form a connected family saga.
What is the Fairmile series order?
Read the Fairmile novels as Tidelands, Dark Tides, and Dawnlands. They form a connected historical series set around the 17th century, beginning during the English Civil War.
Are Philippa Gregory’s books connected?
Some are directly connected through a series, while others simply share historical periods, families, or events. The Plantagenet and Tudor novels are especially interconnected through the English royal dynasties, but they don’t follow one single protagonist from beginning to end.
Does Philippa Gregory write nonfiction?
Yes. In addition to historical fiction, Gregory has written nonfiction including The Women of the Cousins’ War and Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History. Her nonfiction explores historical women and the broader contribution of women to English history.
Which Philippa Gregory book is about Anne Boleyn?
Gregory’s most famous Anne Boleyn-related novel is The Other Boleyn Girl, which focuses primarily on the relationship and rivalry between Anne and her sister Mary Boleyn during Henry VIII’s reign. The Boleyn Inheritance also returns to the dangerous world surrounding Henry VIII’s wives and the Boleyn family.
Is Royal Witch part of the Plantagenet and Tudor series?
Yes. Gregory’s official website categorizes Royal Witch under the Plantagenet and Tudor Novels. It is set in 1420 and tells the story of Eleanor Cobham, who rose to become Duchess of Gloucester before being accused of witchcraft. The book was released in 2026.
Final Verdict
Philippa Gregory’s books are best approached by series rather than as one giant publication-date list. If you’re fascinated by the English monarchy, start with the chronological Plantagenet and Tudor novels; if you want the 17th century, choose Fairmile; for her earliest family saga, choose Wideacre; and for medieval adventure, try The Order of Darkness.
What makes Gregory especially compelling is the perspective she brings to familiar history. Instead of simply retelling the reigns of kings, her novels repeatedly ask what history looked like from the woman’s side of the throne, marriage, battlefield, household, or political struggle.
And if you’re completely new to her work, I’d personally start with The Lady of the Rivers if you want the full historical journey, or The Other Boleyn Girl if you want the most accessible introduction to Gregory’s Tudor fiction.
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