Lauren Willig is a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestselling author of historical novels. She is best known for her "Pink Carnation" series, which follows a collection of Napoleonic-Era British spies, similar to the

Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

, as they fight for Britain and fall in love.

Biography

A native of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Willig discovered historical fiction when she was only six years old, while she was attempting to find books about her idol,

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 1 ...

. After graduating from the Chapin School, Willig attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, where she majored in Renaissance Studies and Political Science, and was Chairman of the Tory Party of the

Yale Political Union The Yale Political Union (YPU) is a debate society at Yale University, founded in 1934 by Alfred Whitney Griswold. It was modeled on the Cambridge Union and Oxford Union and the party system of the defunct Yale Unions of the late nineteenth and ...

. She then studied graduate level early modern European history at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

before entering and graduating from Harvard Law School. Willig briefly worked for

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisiti ...

, a law firm in New York, while authoring her "Pink Carnation" series of books, until she gave up law in order to focus full-time on the series. Willig's books have been named a

Romantic Times ''Romantic Times'' was an American genre magazine specializing in romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love betwee ...

Top Pick! and she has been nominated for a

Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was suppor ...

in 2006. She has won the RITA Award for Best Regency Historical Romance, the RT Reviewers Choice Award for Historical Fiction, the Booksellers Best Award for Long Historical Romance, and the Golden Leaf Award. In Spring of 2010, Willig taught ''Reading the Historical Romance'' at her alma mater, Yale University, along with fellow alumna and romance novelist Andrea DaRif, (penname: Cara Elliott). The course received a great deal of attention for helping to bring the romance novel academic notice. Since winding up the Pink Carnation series, Willig has written seven stand alone works of historical fiction as well as co-authoring four novels with fellow historical fiction authors Karen White and Beatriz Williams.

Works

The Pink Carnation series

#''The Secret History of the Pink Carnation'' (February 2005) #''The Masque of the Black Tulip'' (December 29, 2005) #''The Deception of the Emerald Ring'' (November 16, 2006) #''The Seduction of the Crimson Rose'' (January 31, 2008) #''The Temptation of the Night Jasmine'' (January 22, 2009) #''The Betrayal of the Blood Lily'' (January 12, 2010) #''The Mischief of the Mistletoe'' (October 28, 2010) #''The Orchid Affair'' (January 20, 2011) #''The Garden Intrigue'' (February 16, 2012) #''The Passion of the Purple Plumeria'' (August 6, 2013) #''The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla'' (August 5, 2014) #''The Lure of the Moonflower'' (August 4, 2015)

Historical fiction

*''The Ashford Affair'' (April 9, 2013) *''That Summer'' (June 3, 2014) *''The Other Daughter'' (July 21, 2015) *''The Forgotten Room'' (with Karen White and Beatriz Williams) (January 19, 2016) *''The English Wife'' (January 9, 2018) *''The Glass Ocean'' (with Karen White and Beatriz Williams) (September 4, 2018) *''The Summer Country'' (June 4, 2019) *''All the Ways We Said Goodbye'' (with Karen White and Beatriz Williams) (January 14, 2020) *''Band of Sisters'' (March 2, 2021) *''The Lost Summers of Newport'' (with Karen White and Beatriz Williams) (May 17, 2022) ISBN 978-0-063-04074-8 *''Two Wars and a Wedding'' (March 21, 2023)

Other works

*''Two L'' (August 28, 2011) *"A Night at Northanger" in ''Jane Austen Made Me Do It'' (October 2011) *"The Record Set Right" in ''A Fall of Poppies'' (March 22, 2016) *"Until We Meet Again" in ''A Paris All Your Own: Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light'' (July 4, 2017)

References

External links

Willig's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willig, Lauren Living people Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni Harvard Law School alumni 21st-century American novelists American women novelists American romantic fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Writers from Manhattan Women romantic fiction writers RITA Award winners Cravath, Swaine & Moore people Novelists from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people) Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Yale College alumni