Elizabeth Chadwick (born 1957) is an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

. She is a member of

Regia Anglorum Regia Anglorum (A term used by early writers in Latin texts, meaning ''Kingdoms of the English eople'), or simply Regia, is a Medieval reenactment organisation reenacting the life and times of the peoples who lived in and around the Islands of Bri ...

, a

medieval reenactment Medieval reenactment is a form of historical reenactment that focuses on re-enacting European history in the period from the fall of Rome to about the end of the 15th century. The second half of this period is often called the Middle Ages. This m ...

organisation.

Biography

Elizabeth Chadwick was born in

Bury, Lancashire Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the Historic counties of Englan ...

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 ( sco, The Mearns; gd, Baile Ùr na Maoirne ) is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a populat ...

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 conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...

. A year later the book won a

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the ...

, which was presented to the author at Whitehall by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. 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 literature ...

"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. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...

, ''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. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...
novels

# ''The Greatest Knight'' (2005) # ''The Scarlet Lion'' (2006)

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 Maud Marshal, Countess of Norfolk, Countess of Surrey (1192 – 27 March 1248) was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman and a wealthy co-heiress of her father William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and her mother Isabel de Clare ''suo jure'' 4th Countess ...

(1192 - 1248)

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
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 and Maude of England * ''The Irish Princess'' (2019)

Awards

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 People from Bury, Greater Manchester Writers from Nottingham 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English historical novelists English romantic fiction writers English women novelists 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 Women historical novelists 1957 births